


The Thorns of a Scarred Rose

by Noveletta14



Series: The Reason They Clash [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: American Ghouls, American Investigators, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Child Abuse, F/F, F/M, Fighting, Ghoul Sirens, God-like Ghouls, Investigations, M/M, Mental Instability, Mystery, Romance, Royal Ghouls, Superior Ghouls, Tokyo Ghoul Universe, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-05 14:19:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 82,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14620487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noveletta14/pseuds/Noveletta14
Summary: IMPORTANT: The crossover part, this is important, it is going to be the Tokyo Ghoul Universe with Borderlands character added in it. The Borderlands characters can be seen as OCs if you do not know Borderlands and/or its characters.Shuu Tsukiyama had always been an interesting and deadly ghoul from the moment he walked through Anteiku’s door on that faithful day. What people didn’t know was that there was more to the Gourmet than meets the eye. He was an the edge of sanity and was about to fall off into the depths of madness. Sadly for Tsukiyama some people say it can only take one bad day for someone to fall off the edge. But, real question is, what happens to a person once they fall over the edge?





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: So, this is another story I’m working on. I want to see how well I can take on writing two stories simultaneously. I finished watching Tokyo Ghoul the anime series. I went to various websites to get the extra parts the manga covered, but the anime didn’t. I’m still rough around the edges, but I hope I’m able to make a wholesome story. As for the crossover part, this is important, it is going to be the Tokyo Ghoul Universe with Borderlands character added in it. The Borderlands characters can be seen as OCs if you do not know Borderlands and/or its characters. Now with that out of the way I hope you enjoy the prologue of my Tokyo Ghoul story. Happy Reading!  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

The moon was high in the sky. The sun had set long ago; it’s bright rays leaving the earth. The moon was full and at its peak; it’s beams danced across the city below. The streets were uneasily quiet; not a single soul dared to walk through them. It would have been suicide to this late in the night. The tall buildings loomed over the streets below. They too had become silent. People hiding in fear from the monsters that lurked in the dark. _Hunting_. One said monster surveyed the city below from one of the tallest buildings in the city.

His piercing violet eyes scanning for any sign of life or movement. A slight breeze, from the altitude he was at, slightly ruffled his dark blue hair. Well, a monster was what the humans labeled him. In truth he was a frightening ghoul. Though a ghoul could just as well be called a monster. They might look like humans for the most part, but humans would never commit the horrible acts a ghoul does on a daily basis.

Ghouls had organs and body functions that humans would never have. Those were some of the major differences between the two species. To him what separated humans from ghouls was the consumption of _human_ flesh ghouls did to survive. He reached underneath his black trench coat and pulled out a small circular pocket watch. The black arms ticked to their own rhythm, never stopping as time kept on. Midnight, time to go.

_Arata Kirishima_ put the pocket watch back into his coat and adjusted it. He scanned over the other smaller buildings. To him, the multiple rooftops were like stepping stones in a pond. He looked down at the closet rooftop, which was across the street, and prepared to jump. The building was smaller than the one he was on meaning he had to go a long way down, but he could handle it. He looked down at the rooftop one last time to find the right landing spot before gracefully leaping off the rooftop he was on.

He loved the feeling of the air rushing past him as he fell through it. It tickled his insides and made it feel like he was on air. His coat fluttered around him whilst his hair blew back. His violet eyes narrowed on the fast approaching rooftop. He twisted his body at the last moment so that his feet landed on the roof instead of his head. He landed in a low crouch before pushing off the ground and sending himself forward.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the other side of the rooftop at the speed he was running at. He continued forward, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, not stopping once. His body was a blur as he wove between different size buildings. His coat and hair mimicked the same motion as it did when he was falling. He was the only dark shadow that moved through the rooftops.

The scent of other living beings wafted into his nose. The scent of human mixed with ghoul. Not the scent of their body aroma, but their blood. He smiled as the scent became stronger. He was getting closer. Along with the scent came the sound of metal banging against metal, horrific shouting, and flesh being cut open. He was defiantly getting closer. He leaped to one last rooftop of a tall building and ran to its edge where he skidded to a stop. He looked down at the plaza below.

The once joyous fun-filled mall plaza looked like a stampede had gone through it. The decorations and nice flooring were destroyed leaving broken earth. Ghouls and humans fought outside and inside the mall. The humans used their quinques to battle their man-eating opponents. The quinques varied in size, length, and strength. They fought determinedly and furiously. Slicing and cutting through the ghouls with precision. Humans that did not possess a quinque however, used guns to fill the ghouls with quinque bullets. The humans grey armor doing all it could to protect its wearer from the attacks they endured.

The ghouls were faster, stronger, and more durable than their human opponents. They used their characterized kangunes to tear apart and slaughter the humans. The stronger ghouls did this with ease; promptly moving past the human’s defenses and finishing the job. The weaker ones had a hard time getting past the defenses, but once they got within striking range of a human the ghoul could finish the job with ease. Their black cloaks fluttered around them and contrasted against their pure white masks. On the backs of their cloaks, a symbol of an azure blue arch was stitched into the black fabric. The blood of the fallen coated the ground and walls as if a painter had used them as a canvas and blood was their medium

Arata looked at the chaos below him and felt excitement fill his being. He reached inside his coat once more and pulled out his mask. The mask was made of pitch black metal and resembled the front part of a knight’s helmet. The eye holes of the mask were slender and sharp. He gingerly put the mask on his face and felt the cold metal caress his skin. His violet eyes peered through the dark eye holes of the mask. He opened his mouth and the mask separated to follow his jaw. The edges of the mask where it opened were cut to make ferocious sharp teeth. When he closed his mouth again the sharp teeth fit together like puzzle pieces. He looked down at the plaza once more, spotted a group of humans, and chuckled. The sound came out deeper and sounded metallic due to the mask.

He jumped from the rooftop and he once again felt the rush of air as he fell. He grabbed his coat that fluttered around him and tore it off; letting it fall away. He now wore his pitch-black armor that clung to his body and covered enough of it to protect him, but also little enough to provide high mobility. Even his hands were covered in the metal which gave him razor sharp claws. The dark blue fabric underneath the armor was tight fitting and provided a layer of warmth on his skin.

The excitement and anticipation of the fight about to be born caused his eyes to change. He felt the tingling sensation of his sclera filling with a hue as black as sin and his irises along with his pupils bleed into crimson. The darkness in his eyes spilled out causing black veins to form out of his eyes; the crimson veins in his sclera flowed into his irises. With his kakugan activated the result was that the eye holes of his mask contained a single point of glowing red.

“Look out little humans,” he said darkly; the sound also came out like before.

As he got closer to the ground his presence had been noticed by ghouls and humans alike. The ghouls made sounds of with awe and relief. The humans looked at him with sheer terror. He angled his body so that he would land on his feet. He felt his back began to bubble up and the skin break. As he looked at the terrified faces of the humans he felt his face pull into a smirk underneath his mask.

**“Cause here I come.”**

The bubble mass on his back exploded and two great wings came forth. The wings were the same dark blue as his hair and faded into pitch black. They had the consistency of water and the motion of fire.

“Oh God!” he heard one of the humans scream as he came down. “It’s the _Dark Knight_!”

He tilted his wings causing his motion to suddenly subside and brought forth a huge gust of wind down on the humans. The humans stumbled back and shielded their eyes. Using this to his advantage he focused on his kagune to make hardened Rc cells. There was a loud wiring sound as his kagune shot out dozens of dark blue crystal shards with black ends. The humans, too late to see the fast approaching shards, were struck. The shards imbedded themselves deep into their victim’s flesh; severing major arteries and shearing through muscle. The humans fell dead to the ground; their last breaths leaving them. Arata landed on the ground with a hard thud. He felt the force from the landing vibrate through his bones.

The humans shakily pointed their guns at the armored ghoul before pulling the trigger. Arata looked lazily at the incoming projectiles and ran straight at them and his enemies at a frightening speed. It didn’t take long for the bullets to reach him. They collided with his armor and harmlessly bounced off. He sent out another barrage of shards with his kagune that brought down the first line of firing humans. He crystalized his wings and created black crystal blades with them. He used his left blade wing to slice open a human’s chest while simultaneously cutting open another’s stomach with the other. They both fell dead to the ground.  He then ran at the group of humans and began to swing his wings around rapidly.

A multitude of humans fell dead around the Dark Knight as he worked his strikes through the humans. They had little to no time to react as the ghoul struck out. He was focused and struck with precision and force as he moved through the humans like the plague. By now multiple splotches of crimson decorated Arata’s black armor. He stopped to look around at his handy work; letting his wings decrystalize and shrink to a smaller size. The corpses of the fallen humans littered the ground around him like thrown out trash.

A loud whooshing sound came from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a red slim whip-like tentacle come at him. He leaped to the side dodging the attack. He watched as the tentacle came back to its user; a human woman who glared at him with hatred. Behind her was most likely her male partner who wielded a quinque that took the form of a small axe, along with two others that were further behind. The women attacked first swinging her quinque whip around to strike Arata.

The ghoul easily flipped and wove through the whip as it attempted to strike him. The women’s face strained with determination as she tried to hit her opponent. Arata smiled under his mask at how desperately the human tried to hurt him. As a strike came for his face he caught the whip with his left hand. He watched as the women’s face drained of emotion and become pale. He wrapped the whip around his wrist one time before tugging on it with his incredible strength.

The women, who was still holding onto her quinque, was violently pulled forward as she and her partner screamed. Arata pushed off the ground to meet her half way. He punched her in the gut as the met. The force of the blow punched a hole through the women’s abdomen. Her eyes widened, and she gave out a chocked scream as blood burst out of her mouth. As the women fell to her knees, still gurgling up blood, Arata grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling over.

He then opened his mouth and with that the sharp teeth of the mask separated. He raised his head high in the air; the teeth gleamed in the moonlight. They came down swiftly onto the crook of the women’s neck. She gave a startled gasp as tears fell down her face. Two pairs of teeth sunk into the women’s flesh; cutting through it like butter. The taste of her blood filled his mouth and the aroma occupied his nose. Multiple rivers of blood steamed down the women’s shoulder and soaked her already bloody armor. She weakly tried to push off the ghoul that was biting into her. He chuckled around the flesh in his mouth at the feeble attempt to resist.

He then increased his bite strength; his teeth sinking into her further. There was a loud crunch as his teeth hit bone. Reaching his target, he tightened his jaw and pulled his head back. The sound of flesh being torn from bone was sickening to hear. He had torn out the majority of her shoulder as well as some of her throat.

The women’s eyes glazed over and her gurgling ceased. He let go of her shoulders and let her corpse fall to the ground with a quiet thud. He greedily chewed on the flesh in his mouth. His metal teeth clanging together each time he chewed. He happily swallowed his snack and felt how his body greatly enjoyed the extra energy. His body instantly absorbed the and gave strength to every muscle in his body; it would have healed any wounds if he had any.

There was an infuriating scream and Arata glanced to his right to see the women’s male partner running at him. He had his axe high in the air, prepared to swing down. Arata didn’t do anything as the man swung down at the back of his neck. There was a loud crack as the axe shattered against Arata’s armor; the pieces of the quinque fell to clatter against the ground. The man stepped back; disbelief and horror etched across his face.

Arata slowly turned his head to look at the man. His glowing red irises glared at the man hauntingly. He opened his mouth and the mask made a widened smile as blood dripped down the teeth. He ran his tongue over his metal teeth; licking off the blood that dripped off it.

Arata grabbed the man by his head and effortlessly lifted him off the ground. The man gave a cry of pain as the ghoul’s metal claws sunk into his head reaching his skull. With his twisted smile still present Arata slammed the man into the ground head first. Such was the force upon the poor man’s head that it burst I the back like a gore filled balloon.

“How sad.” Arata sighed as he looked down at the two corpses. “I wonder why you even try to fight back.” He stepped over the corpses nonchalantly and confronted the last two of his opponents.

They both looked at him with in their; knowing the inevitable. The pointed tip of a kagune busted out from the man on the right chest’s. As the kagune retracted the man’s body collapsed to the ground. Four blood red tentacles shot through the air at the other human and they were savagely torn apart by the horrific appendages. Two ghouls, one male and one female, came running to stand in front of Arata.

The she-ghoul had abnormally pale skin and long dark violet hair, that was neatly combed and pinned back. A single steak of pure white ran across the left side of her hair. She wore a black eye mask with silver trimming. A violet rose was designed over the left eye hole. Her kakugan gleamed through the holes of the mask. She wore a black dress-like cloak that had a slit on the left side so that her left leg showed. The long sleeves of the robe draped down her arms, due to the sleeves being wider than her arm. She had dark violet fingernails, filed to sharp points.

The same rose on her mask was designed over the left side of her chest; it’s silver vines with red thorns traveled all the way down the cloak. The black slippers on her feet had a silver covered bottom. She wore tight fitting silver-colored tights underneath the cloak. Her koukaku kagune was out and covered in blood. It took the form of two long, ribbon-like appendages that she had curled around her arms. It was a lovely amethyst with a crimson red inner side. There were thin dark violet intricate lines that decorated her kagune.

The male ghoul had short white-colored hair with long bangs that went down each side of his face. He wore a black metal mask that covered the lower part of his face that had sharp white teeth painted across where the mouth was. He wore a long white rob with red trimmings and the lower back part cut out. His rinkaku kagune was four long tentacles that were pointed at the end and were the color of blood. They pulsed with a soft glow as they came to rest beside their owner.

“Nice to see you guys are doing good as usual.” Arata greeted his fellow ghouls with a happy tone.

“Good!?” the she-ghoul gasped as if offended. She put a hand to her chest and lifted her chin up high. “We are doing _magnifique_ as always, _mon cher_ Kirishima. We always make sure to deliver an exquisite performance.”

“Well,” the male ghoul beside her said. “I’m not too focused on if our fighting skills are ‘manifique’ or not Carina.” He pronounced the word with a French accent like Carina had. “I’m focused on how many humans we kill. For some reason are numbers are dwindling severely.” Arata raised an eyebrow under his mask.

“Dwindling? How could that be? These humans shouldn’t be a problem. Where’s Tara.”

“She’s at the front taking care of the reinforcements. It shouldn’t take her long. Carina and I were taking care of the humans that got past Tara. She told us to come find you.”

“Right now, we outnumber the humans ten to one yet they keep on fighting.” Carina spoke up. “I haven’t got the slightest idea why they keep putting up a fuss. They’re becoming annoying little _ravageurs_!” she flipped her violet hair with a whip of her head. “That and I’d be lying if I said, my appetite wasn’t acting up in the slightest.”

“Then why don’t you take a bite out of one of the hundred humans here?” Arata said with a roll of his eyes. “I did it so why don’t you?” Carina’s eyes widened and she looked at him as if he had suggested she should cut off her own hand and eat it.

“ _Dégoûtant_!” she cried out in horror. “I can’t eat common human meat! You might be able to swallow that _poubelle_ , but I’m a ghoul with refined taste and will not allow anything, but the finest food to enter my body. Don’t you-“ Carina was interrupted by the uproar of ghouls fleeing and running in the opposite direction of the mall entrance.

They weren’t just running away from the mall, but running out of the plaza; they paid no mind to humans as they ran by. They were retreating. Not because of an order but out of fear. They were shouting out intelligible sentences, but out of all the commotion one sentence was heard:

“It’s the _Ghoul Slayer_!”

A rush of excitement and fear ran through Arata as he heard the news. He had always wanted to battle the famous Ghoul Slayer. He wondered how they were able to pull off that title. They were human; humans were weak and pathetic. He pitied the race all together.

“They’re right.” Carina said as she sniffed the air. “The slayer is in the mall. There’s the answer to why our numbers are dwindling.”

“Arata I know what you’re thinking,” the male ghoul said turning to his comrade, “and the answer is no. We’re not going to fight the Ghoul Slayer. We’re not allowed to do that remember. Tara said not-”

“Oh, grow a back-bone Roku.” Arata said as he gave a roll of his eyes. “Tara won’t be upset once she sees that we’ve beaten the slayer.”

“Kirishima _mon cher_ ,” Carina spoke up, “Ryota has a point. Not only will Tara be enraged, but the King specifically told us not to engage the slayer. Even he has a hard time killing them. If he can’t kill them then how are we supposed to?” she put her hands on her hips.

“First of all, I’ll handle Tara and secondly the King told us that we need to defeat the humans, so ghouls can be on top and not them. Well, how can we do that if we can’t kill the best of their kind?” Carina drummed her fingers on her chin processing the words. He did have a good point.

“Well, the slayer does have a marvelous aroma.” She said with her lips pulled into a sly smile. Arata also smiled under his mask. They both looked at Roku. Knowing that his comrades weren’t going to give up if he tried to convince them not to he sighed.

“Fine. Someone has to make sure you two idiots don’t get killed.”

“Great.” Arata said turning to face the mall entrance. “We need to go before the slayer leaves.” They all sprinted inside the mall running past the fleeing ghouls and relieved humans. The tiled floor of the mall was either smashed or covered in blood giving it a wrecked state. The corpses of ghouls were everywhere. Their black cloaks stained with blood and ripped apart.

“Lives up to their name huh?” Roku commented as they passed another group of corpses. They turned a corner and made it to the food court. The tables and chairs were thrown back to the fair edges of the massive court. The glass dome above allowed the moon’s light to shine through and light up the court. There in the center of the court was the Ghoul Slayer.

The slayer was a young woman with brown hair with a single streak of sapphire blue that was cut short to her shoulders. What stood out most about her face was the scar on the left side. The scar was a pale blue that looked like electricity sparks that crawled on her check and over her eye; her eye was also a pale blue, pupil included. Her other eye was a vibrant green. She wore a white robe that covered her body with the hood pulled over her head. In her hand was a long shaft of metal that glowed the same bright blue as her streak.

“Ghoul Slayer!” Arata shouted taking a step forward. “We finally get to meet in person.” She turned to regard the trio of ghouls with a cool gaze. He was put off by her reaction towards them. Didn’t she know about them?

“Ah, Dark Knight.” The slayer said happily with a small smile. Apparently, she did know. She turned her gaze towards Carina. “Midnight Rose and,” she then looked at Roku, “Red Death. Nice to see you all here. I feel like you’ve been avoiding me.” She took a step forward. “I looked at your files and I must say I’m impressed. You guys have a high fatality rate and are definitely not to be trifled with.” She then brought up her weapon and pointed it at the ghouls. “For normal humans, but for me you’ll just be another monster for me to _slay_.” Her face then turned into a wide smile and her white teeth shone. “Come at me ghouls.”

Arata glanced at his sides to see his two comrades give a sharp nod towards him. He too gave a nod. Carina and Roku both sprinted towards the slayer at an alarming rate. Carina’s kagune uncurled from her arms and she sent them out towards the slayer. They spiraled through the air as they sought to tear apart their victim. The slayer jumped backwards just as Carina’s kagune dug themselves in the ground she had just been a moment ago. As the slayer landed on her feet Roku came at her with his four tentacles. She raised her blade to intercept the tentacles. There was a loud crack and a flash of sparks as the two forces collided. The slayer jumped back once more to put space between her and her opponents. Roku continued to charge while Carina joined him at his side.

They both used their kangune to strike at the slayer with ridiculous speed. They worked together to try and overwhelm their enemy with a hailstorm of blows. The slayer in an excellent performance of agility and skill either blocked or dodged their attacks. She used her blade to block and push away the offending appendages. She executed acrobatic flips and tumbles to get out of the of fatal attacks. She seemed to be doing this with ease as no strain showed on her face. The ghoul’s annoyance flared across their masked faces. The slayer hadn’t taken a single hit as she wove between the two kagunes. She didn’t seem to be breaking a sweat actually, a smile had formed on her lips.

Finally, the slayer took her first swing at the ghouls and they both dodged and jumped back, but they didn’t come back at her. She had about a second to be confused before the barrage of crystal shards came speeding towards her. She promptly took her blade and spun it in front of her as if it were a baton. The shards crashed into the improvised shield and instantly shattered. Once the barrage ended the slayer lowered her blade and gently dusted off her robe with a hand.

Arata came at her with his wing blades. He used his kagune to attack the slayer with as much force as he could muster, which was abnormally strong even by ghoul standards. The cracks were louder and the flashes were brighter as Arata’s stronger attacks collided with the metal of the slayer’s blade. He was astonished at how the slayer was able to keep up with his speed and force. He jumped high into the air with his wings spread out. He sent out another barrage of crystal shards. The slayer was forced to do several backhand springs to void being impaled by the deadly shards. Arata gracefully fell back down to the ground and looked at his comrades. It was time to end this.

Carina and Roku both ran to opposite sides of the court. They jumped in the air to land on the wall and run on the vertical surface. They craned their necks upwards to glare at the slayer in the middle of the room. Once they were parallel to the slayer they pushed off the vertical surface as hard as they could and sent themselves flying towards the slayer. They’re kagunes outstretched and ready to deliver a killing blow. Arata pushed off the ground while giving a strong flap of his wings that sent him shooting through the air and towards the slayer head on. He knew humans couldn’t win against ghouls. He had to admit the slayer was tough to fight for all three of them, but no matter how strong the human they always fell to the ghoul.

As the ghouls got closer to their target Arata watched in surprise as the slayer’s facial expression changed. Her pupils were tiny and her irises seemed to sparkle; her lips were not in a smile, but rather a cruel smirk. Arata eyes widened in horror as the slayer moved her rode to show what was underneath. Strapped to her navy blue uniform shirt were multiple quinque knives along with several metal disks. The ghouls were moments away from striking the slayer when she attacked. She moved to fast for any of them to see. She gripped three quinque knives in her left hand and hurled them at Carina who was coming at her right. Carina’s eyes widened as she saw the knives coming at her that she knew she couldn’t dodge. One of the knives imbedded itself into the center of her chest, another into her right eye and the last fixed itself in her neck. 

The slayer then grabbed two of the metal disks and flung them at Roku. The first sank into chest while the other stuck itself into his forehead. Both ghouls crumpled to the ground as their wounds spurted blood and their kagunes shatter and vanish in a red mist. Arata felt his body lock up and the high speed he was traveling visibly decreased. The slayer raised her blade as Arata came flying past her and struck out. Pain exploded in Arata’s left side as he felt it be sliced open. He fell past the slayer and rolled on the ground before coming to a stop. Despite being wounded Arata pushed himself up to look down at the damage.

There was a long deep vertical gash that started at his ribcage and ended at his hipbone. He grimaced as he looked at the blood that flowed down his side to puddle on the floor. He could already feel the slightly painful tingling sensation as his body began to remake itself on auto. The Ghoul Slayer was not done yet. As he got back up he looked up to see the slayer had thrown her blade at him as if it were a javelin. Arata widened his stance and got on the balls of his feet prepared to jump out of the way.

The blade split into sixteen pieces midair making a speeding row of metal shards; they made a whirring sound as they cut through the air towards the ghoul. Arata only had a few moments to flip into the air to avoid the upcoming shards. As he landed back on the ground he glanced up at the slayer and scoffed. Her response was that she made a fierce gesture with her left hand as if commanding someone to come to her. Or something.

The same whirring sound came from behind him and turned to look. His crimson eyes widened as he saw the shards coming back at him. He couldn’t dodge it this time. The metal shards broke through his armor and cut into his flesh. He gave a cry of pain as he felt them go into his legs, back, and arms and burst through the other side. They had cut through muscle tissue and bone on their journey through his body. The shards had just missed his kagune sac, but sheared through one of his lungs.

He crumpled to the ground as the blade shades returned to their wielder, whole again. He took in haggard breaths do to the multiple holes in his chest. He painfully managed to get on one knee; holding his chest with his left hand. He looked behind the slayer to see his comrades coming back to consciousness and weakly pulling out the weapons imbedded in them. Though he knew that they weren’t getting back up to fight.

“You know,” the slayer called out to the knight, “I actually had a good time playing with you guys. For SS rated ghouls you sure do live up to your rating, but sadly you don’t get to live through this battle. You don’t stand a chance against a human like me. I can kill more of you monsters in a single day than you ever could!” she shouted as she raised her blade. “Humans are the dominant species and there is a reason we are. We’re _meant_ to exist. You ghouls are just an atrocity of the human species.” Arata felt his heart skip a beat as the slayer winded her arm back and thus her blade. “And once we eradicate your kind the world will be a better place.”

The Ghoul Slayer then launched her blade forward and it raced towards the wounded ghoul at an alarming rate. Arata tried to move out of the way in time, but he could barely move a couple inches before the pain kicked in and caused him to stop. He realized he was wrong. He was wrong about the slayer’s ability’s. He doubted her and because of that she was going to kill her and finish of both of his comrades. The blade shards gleamed a bright blue as they cut through the air, but seemed dull against the shower of purple crystal shards that glistened in the moonlight.  The shards came down from above and collided with the blade causing it to fall from the air and crash to the floor. Arata kneeled there stunned and relieved at the same time. The slayer growled and summoned her blade back to her.

The shadow of a person formed at the center of the floor. Both human and ghouls looked up to see the she-ghoul that stood on the edge of the hole in the glass dome roof. She was dressed in the same kind of armor as Arata, but designed to fit the female form and was a dark purple with black fabric underneath. She had a dark purple metallic mask that covered her nose and mouth. Black diamond shaped crystals lined the perimeter of the mask. She had a dark purple, metal circular band on her head that shown across the top of her forehead. It also had a row of black crystals attached to it. She had shoulder length dark purple hair with a long fringe on the left side that reached her chin. Though as the wind blew past, her hair fluttered smoothly around her, showing her haunting nightmare eyes.

“Black Angel.” The slayer whispered as she brought a hand up to gently rub the scar on her face.

“Good evening.” The angel’s calm metallic voice contrasted against the tense mood. She gracefully leaped down and landed silently in front of Arata. While the slayer glared at her she turned to look down at Arata. Her eyes were a luminous purple and were filled with ire.

“Guess I’m still looking out for you, huh, little brother?” the she-ghoul hissed under her mask. Arata felt his eyes tingle again and they became their original violet. He straightened himself up, despite the pain it brought and said:

“T-Tara I can explain.”

“Shut up! I’ll deal with you later. Now take your friends and go.” She then turned around and coolly regarded the slayer. “I’ll take care of the slayer.” Arata gasped.

“Tara you can’t! She’ll-”

“Now Arata!” Tara exclaimed furiously still facing her new opponent.

By her tone of voice, he knew that his sister wasn’t playing. He sighed and forced his body to stand. His small break allowed his legs and arms to heal themselves. He unleashed his blazing kagune with a thought and speedily ran over to his healing comrades. Without stopping he bent down and picked up Carina, as she pulled the last knife out of her eye, throwing her over her shoulder. He jumped and flapped his wings sending himself high into the air. He felt a single tentacle wrap around his leg and he knew Roku had tagged along with them. Even with the extra weight on his shoulder and the weight dragging behind him he was able to reach the hole in the dome.

When he landed he set Carina down and helped Roku up. They wasted no time running down the down and hopping off the building. Arata stayed looking down at the fight about to commence. His sister was a legend just as much as the Ghoul Slayer was. He knew he shouldn’t worry, but there was always that doubt that plagued the back of his mind. He gave one last look before running down the dome himself and jumping off the building and into the darkness of the night.


	2. The Onset of Insanity

Pain. Physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury. The word seemed to be an understatement to what he felt coursing through his entire being. The agonizing feeling that pulsed through his body every time his heart gave a pathetic beat couldn’t have been pain. Pain was something that happened every once in a while. Whenever a person accidently stubs their toe or get their feelings hurt. Even then it is just a brief sting before it subsides to a buzz or something/someone comes along to mend the broken spirit.

 _This_ was not pain. It lasted way too long. It never stopped coursing through him and never weakened. It was always there: every time he drew in a breath in through pained lungs and through a sore throat that had let out horrific screams, every time he moved an inch of his body his skin felt like he was on nails even though he was on tiled floors that were supposed to be warm to the touch, but was now warm from his blood. _This_ couldn’t go away in an instant no matter how much you tried to heal it. It would take time for _this_ to leave his body alone, but time he did not have. _This_ was not pain, but something else no one should have to feel. But was there a word for _this_? No there wasn’t a word thought up for _this_.

He stared up at the metal dome ceiling with strained violet eyes. The image was fuzzy and blurry due to the tears that filled his eyes and ran down his face to mix with the blood on the floor. He wondered why he had to be the one to go through this. Had he done something wrong to  _deserve_ this?

“Get up boy! We’re not done yet!”

The boy moved his gaze from the ceiling to the older ghoul that stood a few feet away from him. The older ghoul had a bloodied dagger in his left hand that he waved around as he spoke.

“You need to stop being such a pansy and fight me! Don’t be weak!” The boy grunted as he rolled from his back to his stomach; the simple motion causing a burst of pain to shoot through his abdomen. He then spat the blood that filled his mouth onto the ground. Even though he got the horrid liquid out he still couldn’t get out the salty copper taste it had left on his tongue. He began pushing himself up with his aching arms that were littered with cuts and bruises he had obtained from the older ghoul.

“C’mon I know you want to fight me. Why don’t you get up and do it already.” he sneered, “Your mom told me you were strong, show me she was right!” This caused the boy’s eyes to narrow and his breath to hitch.

His mother. The first person he loved to leave him forever. She wasn’t going to come back he knew this, and the hole her death had left in the boy’s heart was hurting. If his mother had said that he was strong, she had to be right. With a new feeling to prove his mother right he promptly pushed himself up. He grabbed one of the three daggers that was lodged in different parts of his body. The one he was pulling out of himself now was in his shoulder. He did his best to limit the pain by pulling it out as fast as he could. Once the blade was out, his shoulder let out a gush of blood that he ignored and stood up on shaky legs. He gripped the blood-coated dagger tightly in his small shaking hands.

“Yes, that’s it.” The older ghoul said. “Fight me!” The boy’s mouth twisted into a snarl as his eyes changed and became those of an angered ghoul. He let out a shriek as he charged the older ghoul with the dagger outstretched. A smile formed on the older ghoul’s face as easily dodge the swing and brought up his dagger. He swung back, and the sound of the two daggers meeting rang through the dome.

The younger ghoul strained against the strength of the elder and pushed the opposing blade away and coming at his opponent with another strike. It was blocked just like the first one, but this time the older ghoul struck out with a fist. The younger ghoul sloppily dodged the punch, ducking down. Every time he moved his body, the pain would become more intense and the daggers imbed in his left side and right thigh would rub against his muscles and scrap against his bones. He tried his best to keep fighting, he really did, but he was just so tired, and his body burned with each movement he made. It didn’t take long before he slipped up.

He blocked a strike that would have stabbed him in the chest but wasn’t able to dodge the attack right after the blades collided. The older ghoul shoved his fingers right into the younger ghoul’s eye sockets. The eyes popped like grapes as blood flowed out of his eye sockets like tears. He screamed as his vision was plunged into darkness. The dagger he had once gripped so tightly fell from his grasp to clatter against the floor. When the older ghoul retraced his fingers out of the younger ghoul’s head the ghoul collapsed to his knees and hunched over. He began hyperventilating and traced his bloodied fingers over his empty eye sockets.

“Oh, well that’s disappointing.” He heard the older ghoul say with a sigh. He could feel the other’s eyes glaring down at him with anger. “You were doing so well, Shuu. I guess you’re not as strong as your mother said… Yet. Don’t worry that’s why I’m here, to help you unlock your full potential and become one of the strongest ghouls to ever live. It may take years until you reach that point, but I have all the time in the world.”

The sound of skin breaking and matter forming caused Shuu to unintentionally hold his breath for a moment. He knew what that was. He began to feel around on the floor for the dagger he dropped, inside the black void he was trapped in. “Yes, it will be oh so excruciatingly painful and taxing, but that just makes it more entertaining for me.” The chuckle the other ghoul let out chilled Shuu to the core. “Well, Shuu let’s see how well you do blind. This will certainly be interesting.” Shuu felt his fingers brush against the handle of the fallen dagger and he grasped it as tightly as he could.

Pain exploded throughout his entire abdomen as he felt the same sword-like kagune he came to fear stab him straight through. He couldn’t stop the new rush of blood that shot out of his mouth as he coughed. The pain in his body increased once more as he felt himself screaming his heart out through pained lungs.

Why did he deserve _this?_

* * *

Shuu shot up in his bed so fast his pillows and covers were thrown astray. Sweat covered his body, causing his hair to cling to his face and dampen his clothing. He took in deep breaths like he had just ran a marathon, which caused his chest to heave up and down. His body felt like it was burning up with each breath he took. His eyes stung with the feeling of a released kakugan. He felt a familiar weight on his right shoulder blade and glanced down. In the darkness he could see the bright violet of his koukaku kagune. It tore through his night shirt and wrapped tightly around his arm. He tried to slow down his breath as he felt his heart pound in his chest.

 _“It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It wasn’t real Shuu.”_ He told himself as he began to take in slower breaths. He closed his eyes and let his ghoul side retreat inside himself. His kagune shrank into his back as the black veins around his eyes faded. He opened his eyes once more and hung his head in despair with a sigh. His violet eyes immediately widened. In the darkness he saw dark splotches that stained his covers and night shirt. He looked down at his chest to see his night shirt had been torn open with several buttons torn off. Multiple dark scratch marks covered his skin with dark rivulets traveling down his chest and sinking into his clothes. He brought his hands to his face to see his fingers covered in the same dark substance that stained everywhere else and pieces of matter stuck under his finger nails.

He promptly leaped from his huge bed, his heart racing once more. He ran to the bathroom door and practically kicked it open, the door slamming into the wall. He switched on the bathroom light in a swift movement and stopped in front of the mirror. He gave a horrified gasp as he saw his reflection.

His hair was a mess with strands of violet poking out in all directions. His eyes were pink, puffy, and watery as if he had been crying for hours. That wasn’t the worst part. Blood stains were around his eyes that mimicked tears. Not to mention his face was deathly pale with blood stains all over it.  As he suspected the dark substance that he had seen covering his body was his own blood. His chest looked like he had been attacked by a wild animal and it had used it claws to tear through his skin. Even though most of scratches were healing the blood still stained his pale skin. His night shirt didn’t look any better, it being blood stained and shredded as well. His hands, mostly his fingers, were covered in crimson. The matter under his fingers was actually his own skin.

He turned on the water facet and cold water poured forth. He put his hands under the cool water, rubbing them together in hopes of washing off the blood that stained then. He then lowered his face under the sink and splashed water onto it. Rubbing his hands on his cheeks, he felt the blood flaking off. The cool water helped him calm down and relax. He turned off the water and looked at his reflection once again. This time his eyes looked sad and tired. He let out a heavy sigh as he felt his heart beat return to normal. He ran a hand through his messy violet locks, putting a few back down into place. He turned to look at the bathroom clock. The position of the clock’s arms told him it was _5:47_. He looked back into the mirror and stood up tall.

“C’mon Shuu, shake it off.” He said to himself. “This isn’t the first time you woke up like this. Get a grip.” He gave another quick glance at the clock before saying, “It was about time for me to get up anyway.” He looked down at his messy appearance. He was going to need a shower and some new night attire… Again.

He turned around and looked at his bed. All the sheets were going to have to be washed, but just the sheets. He never allowed anyone to move his mattress or clean under the bed. He knew that it would lead it to being dirty, but he didn’t care about that. He knew he did it for a good reason. He walked over the wrecked bed and glanced down at the darkness that resided underneath it.

“Never again.” He whispered under his breath. “You can’t hurt me ever again.”

* * *

The nightmares had been happening for some time at this point. Shuu had been calling them nightmares, but he could also call them… flashbacks. He didn’t want to call them flashbacks though. When he called them nightmares it gave him the sense of that, he had never experienced the pain he had in his past. He had shoved those parts of his childhood to the back ends of his mind. He and everyone around him had done a great job of acting like the torment never happened and the monster that had lived with them never existed. He never thought he would be the one to resurrect the dead memories.

The first nightmare he had was with Kaneki’s group. Most of the group’s members decided to go out in the town for the night. The day had been a normal one with barely anything new or interesting happening, but Shuu felt the need to get his beauty sleep. He remembers the nightmare he had that night very clearly though he never wished to recall it. He had not handled it well at all. He was in such a state of paranoia and Shock that he had lost control of himself. He did not remember what he did during his state of hysteria.

What he did remember was waking up in the living room covered in bruises and blood leaning against somebody as they had their arms wrapped around him in a hug. He quickly passed out again after a few seconds. When he woke up the second time he found himself in back in his bed with a slight headache. The previous night’s events had been cleaned up as if it never had happened. He went along with this and tried to live the day as if nothing had happened. But no matter how hard he tried to put the events from the past night into the back on his mind it just kept on popping up. He must have been acting strangely because it didn’t take long for someone to ask him if something was wrong with him.

It had been Kaneki to walk up to him and ask him the question. He was surprised at first. Kaneki usually didn’t seem to care about how he was feeling let alone asking if something was the matter with him. He had answered with his normal flamboyant personality in hopes of reassuring Kaneki of his doubts. Apparently, the answer he had given wasn’t a good enough answer for Kaneki and he kept on pushing, asking him if he had gotten any sleep the previous night. Shuu had answered that he had a somewhat peaceful dream.

Kaneki had called him out on his lie by pointing out the dark bags that rested under his eyes. He did his best to make up an excuse, to say something that would make Kaneki believe him that nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t think of anything. He had sighed and hung his head in defeat. Kaneki had then told him he knew what had happened last night and that he was the one to calm him down and get him back to bed.

Shuu should have known that the body he was leaning against was Kaneki due to the half-ghoul’s unique scent. He knew Kaneki himself was going through tough times and he remembers calming down Kaneki one night. It made sense for Kaneki to do the same for him. He had asked Kaneki if anyone else knew and was relieved when Kaneki said no. He was happy that Kaneki was the only one who knew his issue and not anyone else. But when Kaneki had asked him what the nightmare was about he couldn’t bring himself to tell. His past was supposed to be non-existent. Even people he knew from his past never talked about it in the present. That and he didn’t want Kaneki’s view of him to change.

Caught up in the moment of Kaneki knowing his freak out he forgot to ask about what he did when he blacked out the first time. When he had asked Kaneki about it he was hesitant. So Shuu had made a deal with Kaneki saying that if he told him what he did during his black out that he would tell him what his nightmare was about. Kaneki had agreed and told him that when he heard a loud noise from his room he went out to check it. When he tried to talk to Shuu, he had lashed out at him with his kagune and they had a scuffle before Kaneki could calm him down.

Holding up his end of the bargain, Shuu had given Kaneki an answer that was vague enough not to ruin his image, but had enough detail to satisfy Kaneki. He told Kaneki that he didn’t have a great childhood. Yes, he was able to get close to his father, but there was someone else there that made his life a living hell. He had gone through somethings no child or teen should ever go through. He quickly reassured Kaneki that the person who caused his pain was long gone… Dead actually. This seemed to satisfy Kaneki as he didn’t say much after that and simply walked away.

Shuu had moved to sleep at his place after that incident in hopes of his nightmares not bothering Kaneki. Kaneki still checked on him though; asking him if he had a good night’s sleep or if anything terrible happened. Even though he changed his environment the nightmares never ceased. He kept on finding himself on the floor of his bedroom with the room trashed. He tried multiple things from tying himself to the bed to trying to stay awake, neither of which worked. He would pass out from pure exhaustion every time he tried to stay awake and he would break the rope or snap the chains he used to tie himself to the bed.

To stop himself from destroying his room he used a different way to channel his hysteria. He focused all the anger and pain on himself. He clawed at his own skin with his nails and tore into his own flesh with his kagune. Self-harm basically. He stopped waking up with a wrecked room, but now with a ravaged and bleeding body. He had to heal himself and take a heavy shower in the morning before he went out of his place.

It didn’t take long for his family and servants to find out about the nightmares. He had to get his sheets cleaned after all. The excuse of he was eating in bed fooled the servants, but not his father and Matsumae. He swore there was no secret he could hide from them. Matsumae had approached him calmly and told him to go into his father’s office. He was in that office with Matsumae and his father for two minutes before he cracked. They were obviously worried about him and tried to help, but he stood up strong and said that he had to deal with his own problems with no help.

He still helped Kaneki accomplish his goals of course and was happy to be a part of the half-ghoul’s group even though nightmares plagued his mind. The disbandment of the group nearly broke his heart in two, though he didn’t show it. Kaneki had said that he had to go back to Aogiri for what would probably be the final time to get the last bit of information he needed. Even though the group was disbanding he was overjoyed when Kaneki had said he could still hang around him.

Though this filled his heart with all the joy in the world his father had misgivings about Shuu hanging around with Kaneki. To his father Kaneki was part of the problem. The nightmares had started when Shuu had become a part of Kaneki’s group. It seemed logical to make him the scapegoat. This made Shuu, and his father to be on rough terms.

These events are what led Shuu to be here now. Walking down the decorated hallway to his father’s office to have a well-deserved talk. He had taken a shower to clean himself and asked of his servants to clean his sheets, but not his mattress or under the bed of course. Kanae had been the one to ask him about his night to which he had replied with better than most nights, which was the truth. He stopped in front of the office door once he got to it. He didn’t want to have a feud with his father. He loved his father greatly would rather like to have a loving relationship rather than a fighting one. He hoped this talk would help mend their strained relationship. He really hoped so. He let out a tired sigh and gave a couple of knocks on the wooden door.

“Who is it?” the calm voice of his father came from the other side of the painted wood.

“It’s your son, Papa.” Shuu answered.

“Come in Shuu.”

* * *

Shuu’s fingers danced over the piano keys with speed and grace. His posture was perfect with his back straight and feet planted firmly on the floor. His eyes were closed firmly, and his head tilted slightly upwards. The song he played was of fast tempo and had a strong resonance that reverberated through the huge room. The extreme force he hit the keys with made the piano’s song evermore powerful. The song, he played by heart, was a perfect representation of how he felt right now: absolutely furious. The talk with his father had not gone well. Not well at all.

It had gone well at first, as their talks always started out, but as difficult topics and strong emotions boiled up their calm conversation turned into nonstop quarreling. His father had brought up the subject of Shuu’s _endearment_ for Kaneki. He had been stunned when his father had said the word “endearment” instead of the usual “obsession”, but he had kept silent non-the less. His father kept on going saying that Shuu shouldn’t let his feelings for Kaneki grow any further for the half-ghoul’s sake and Shuu’s owns, so _when_ they break away it won’t be that painful.

Shuu pressed on one of the piano’s pedals and the piano let out a deep note.

At this point he was shocked and confused. He didn’t understand why his father would even bring up the idea that he and Kaneki would break apart. Shuu had said that he would be the last, and final if may be, companion to stand by Kaneki’s side. That and his _feelings_ for Kaneki?  Shuu was Kaneki’s _sword_. Simple as that. He would always be by Kaneki’s side, to help him with what ever he needed. He was Kaneki’s ally in battle and that would never change. He didn’t get why his father would say “endearment” or “feelings” when it was obvious that he was Kaneki’s defender. While he grew angry at his father’s accusation his father gave a bewildered look.

Shuu lightened up on the keys as he began to play a slower softer melody.

 _“You, don’t see it, do you?”_ _Mirumo said with slight disbelief in his voice. Shuu’s angered glare towards his father lightened slightly at his father’s question._

_“I see it, Papa. I see the fact that you can’t accept me as Kaneki’s sword.” At this Mirumo dropped his head and brought a hand up to message the bridge of his nose as he let out a soft sigh._

_“No, that is not what I meant, Shuu.” He brought up his head and the glare in his circular-framed glasses disappeared to show his dark brown eyes. “What I’m saying is that you don’t understand your **true** feelings for Kaneki.”_

_“ **Vrais sentiments** , Pa-“ **(True Feelings)**_

_“You don’t just have feelings for him as a companion. It’s much more than that.” Shuu’s breath stopped immediately. Was his father going where he thought he was going. “The feeling you have for Kaneki isn’t just companionship it is also-“ Mirumo’s last words fell deaf on Shuu’s ears as his violet eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson._

Shuu went back to the fast-paced tempo he had been playing originally, only this time the song he played was of a darker tone.

_“That’s not it Papa!” Shuu screamed as he shot up from his seat and slammed his palms onto the desk. “You got it all wrong!”_

_“No, I don’t Shuu.” Mirumo’s voice wasn’t loud, but it had a firmness that demanded attention. “I believe you don’t understand your true feelings.”_

_“How do you know how I feel about Kaneki? You’re not me.”_

_“I don’t need to be. The way you talk about him is the way I talk about your mother.”_

Shuu began to move his head to the rhythm of his music as the past memory kept on playing in his head.

_“But… I,” Shuu stuttered trying to find something to say back to his father._

_“Do not deny it. It may not be that obvious to you now, but when you take into account that you keep a handkerchief that is stained with Kaneki’s blood it becomes clearer.” Shuu’s pupils shrank and he looked away from his father as he took in short quickened breaths. Mirumo gave a frustrated sigh and placed his hands in his lap. “Whether you believe it or not Shuu, you will still l-“_

_“STOP SAYING THAT!” Tsukiyama screeched as he slammed his fist onto the desk._

The piano’s song was filled with power and pure emotion as its keys nearly cracked when Shuu pressed down on them harder than ever before.

_There was a loud boom as his fist splintered and cracked the furnished wood. Shuu’s irises were a gleaming red as he glared at his father with ire. Mirumo didn’t flinch at his son’s outburst. He had his son snap at him like this before a long time ago and had come to keep his emotion of anger under wraps. What he didn’t expect was his son’s eyes to fill with tears. He stared aghast as his son looked down and shrank away from the desk as tears ran down his cheeks._

_“Shuu,” Mirumo said softly as he stood up from his seat and reached a hand out towards his son. “Papa, didn’t mean to upset you.”_

_“NO!” Mirumo barely had time to register the kagune blade that shot out before it was placed against his neck. He froze instantly as he felt the sharp point press against his throat and stared at his son with wide eyes. Shuu was giving him that death glare again, but this time it was his full kakugan. His mouth was twisted into a snarl that showed his shinning white teeth._

Shuu shut his eyes tighter as he felt another wave of tears threaten to burn through.

_“Don’t say anything else, Papa! You are not going to make me believe your lies. You may think you are right, but you’re not. If you don’t believe what I say is true than I’ll prove it to you.” he began to laugh as more tears fell down his face. “I’m going to stay by Kaneki’s side till the day I die and he’s going to treasure me for it. I’m going to show you and him that I am the strongest sword there ever was. And you,” a maniacal smile formed on his lips. “You’re going to love me for it.” With that Shuu spun around and ran out the door slamming it behind him._

The piano was practically screeching with sound as Shuu put his pain into each key he pressed down. Why had he done that?

“Master Shuu.” Shuu, startled by the sudden voice behind him, missed the right keys to his song. The piano made a horrid sound as he pressed down on improper keys. He spun around to see one of his most trusted servants standing behind him. Matsumae stood with proper posture and had a relaxed expression. Shuu relaxed slightly as he addressed his servant:

“M-Mastame what are you doing here?” At his question the dark-eyed servant gave a bow.

“Pardon my intrusion, Master, but I came to check on you.” She straightened herself back up, “May I take a sit next to you?” She gestured to the empty spot next to Shuu on the piano bench. He gave a heavy sigh and turned back to the piano.

“Yes, you may.”

“Thank you, Master.” She strutted over to the bench and sat beside him. He kept his head down and never made eye contact with her. After some silence between the two ghouls she brought her hand up to the piano’s keys and began to play a simple tune. She hummed as her fingers pressed down softly on the abused keys. Her black eyes were closed, and she swayed her head to the calm tune.

“Matsumae,” Shuu asked quietly, still not making eye contact. She rested her fingers on the keys, the piano ceasing its tranquil song.

“Yes, Master Shuu?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Matsumae raised an eyebrow at her master’s question.

“Master, I don’t think that there’s anything wrong-“

“Matsumae, I don’t need your sweet words right now.” He lifted his head and looked Matsumae in her darkened eyes. “You know what I did. You know what could of happen today. Don’t act like everything’s okay when it’s not. Today I did something so horrible that I can’t even believe I did it. I threatened my father!” his voice cracked slightly, and tears began to form in the corner of his eyes once more.

“Master Shuu,” Matsumae tried to speak, but was quickly cut off by Shuu.

“I held my kagune to his throat and said that he would love me! I was just so angry and sad that I lost control and it wasn’t because of a nightmare. I lashed out before because of my emotions, but I never attacked anyone close to me, especially not my father.

“I could have killed him! _Ne vois-tu pas_ , Matsumae?! **(Don’t you see)** If I had killed him I would never forgive myself. I don’t think I can ever look at him again.”

“Master Shuu, please calm yourself.” As Matsumae said and this time she placed a gentle hand on top of Shuu’s. This stopped him from ranting any further as he stared at her soft expression. She used her thumb to gently stroke his hand as she spoke:

“Just take a deep breath and calm down.” He did as told, and took in a deep breath. When he exhaled he leaned forward and rested his head on his servant’s chest. He tried to keep in his tears, but when Matsumae began to stroke his back he couldn’t hold in his tears any longer. He gripped onto Matsumae’s shoulders tightly and let his tears flow as he let out quiet sobs.

“Thank you, Matsumae, I needed that.” He said into her chest then gave a deep sigh. “What should I do now?”

“Well, I believe that this can be fixed. You and your father just need to be in a calmer environment.” Shuu lifted his head and looked up at her.

“What do you suggest?” he asked. Her face scrunched up slightly in thought.

“Hmm, I suggest that you two should discuss your issues over a nice dinner. That would be the best for the both of you.”

“But what if-“

“Master, please do not stress yourself about that. I’ll be there the moment if things go awry. There is no need for you to be worried, Master Shuu.” Shuu looked away from her and rested the side of his head on her chest.

“Matsumae,”

“Yes, Master Shuu.”

“ _Merci d'être elle pour moi_.” **(Thank you, for being here with me)** At this Matsumae gave a small smile.

“ _Votre accueil_ , Master Shuu.” **(Your welcome)**

* * *

Shuu walked down a hallway to meet with his father once again. He had taken Matsumae’s advice and organized a dinner with his father. She really was an intelligent ghoul.  He had cleaned himself once again and put on a more formal attire. He wouldn’t lie he was actually a bit nervous to confront his father again after what he had did to him, but that was all in the past now. He organized this meal to mend broken bonds. And to also admit that his father wasn’t completely wrong about what he had said earlier.

As he got near to the end of the hallway to the big double doors he was greeted by two peculiar maids that stood on either side of the doors. The maid on the right had long, taffy pink colored, hair that was tied back into a loose ponytail and reached all the way to her hips. She had turquoise eyes that always seemed to be looking down. She had a slim form and smooth pale skin. She seemed to be hiding behind the few strands of pink hair that had not been tied back into the ponytail.

The maid on the left stood up straight and radiated confidence. Her hair was put into a bun that was hidden behind her maid’s bonnet, but from what Shuu could see she had dark brown hair. Her eyes were hidden behind rectangular-framed glasses that had a heavy glare. She was well-built and had small rippling muscles. Her skin was pale which only highlighted her muscles more. As Shuu approached her strong form didn’t falter.

It wasn’t the same deal with the other maid though. She was practically shaking by the time he got to them. He stopped before them and had a skeptical look on his face as each maid grabbed a door handle.

“H-have a great meal sir.” The pink haired maid stuttered out so quietly that he bet he wouldn’t have heard her if he hadn’t of had super hearing. He looked down at the maid with narrowed eyes. This only caused the maid to shake more, causing the metal door handle in her hands to rattle.

“Is there something the matter, Master Shuu?” the other maid asked, her voice not quivering in the slightest. He turned his gaze towards her.

“Oh, non. It’s just that I don’t remember ever seeing you two before.” He hummed and turned his gaze back to the doors as the maids opened them. He promptly walked inside the dinning room with the doors shutting closed behind him. The dinning room was massive with lights lining the red walls. The dinning table was way smaller than usual being the same size of a normal sized family dinning table than the usual long table. His father sat on the other end of the table.

“ _Bonsoir_ , Papa.” Shuu addressed his father and began to walk towards the table. “I hope that we can-“ he stopped in his tracks once he got a second look at his father or what should have been his father.

The male ghoul that sat at the other end of the table had black hair with a thick white streak running through the left front side. It was in a hair style that was similar to Shuu’s only that all the hair wasn’t combed down and it spiked at the ends. His skin abnormally pale glistened in the light. He wore a formal black suit with a red tie. His eyes were a bloody crimson that almost seemed to be glowing. A long red scar was slashed across his right eye causing the pupil to be a dark red. He looked remarkably similar to Shuu, but more of a slightly older version with sharper facial features. Shuu could only stare wide-eyed as the male ghoul smiled at him and revealed stunning white teeth with canines sharpened to points.

“Wow, look at you, all grown up.” The male ghoul said with awe. “You look just like my sister.” Shuu’s heart rate went through the roof as he felt time stop around him.

“S-Slade.” Was the only word he could stutter out in his shock. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening. He could barely process who was sitting in front of him. But here he was.

His maternal uncle. Slade Tsukiyama.

“In the living flesh.” Slade looked at Shuu’s shocked expression and chuckled. “You look surprised to see me. Not that I blame you, it has been a while since I came back to Tokyo.”

“You’re supposed to be dead.” Shuu said still shocked. “I pushed you off that building and you fell to your death.” His eyes narrowed, and he gave an angered expression as he screamed, “I. Killed. You!” Slade rolled his eyes and said:

“Oh, Shuu, I thought you were smarter than that. Yes, you may have,” he brought up a hand to gently rub the scar on his face, “wounded me, but it’s going to take more than a tumble and fall to kill me.” He put his hand down and gently tapped the table with a black-nailed finger as his eyes narrowed. “Did you really think you could get rid of me?”

Shuu turned around immediately and grabbed the doorknob, but when he tried to turn it, it wouldn’t budge. It was locked. Those maids! He stepped back from the door and prepared to kick it down with all his ghoul strength.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Slade said moments before Shuu’s foot could make contact with the door. He looked over his shoulder at Slade. “If you kick down that door, well then I’m going to just have to immobilize you and make you have dinner with me.” Slade gave a small chuckle. “Your choice Shuu.” Knowing his odds, he put down his leg down and turned to the table at which his uncle sat at.

“Good boy. Now come sit in your seat.” Shuu shuffled towards the seat nervously. His heart was still beating rapidly. “Now boy!” Slade screamed when Shuu took to long. Shuu instantly ran over to the table and leaped into his seat without a word. Slade smirked at this. “Nice to see you can still follow my instructions.” Shuu hated how his body still remembered how to obey his uncle’s commands. The table was set with shinning silverware, cups filled with a thick red substance, and ornate napkins, but there was no plate with the food he had specifically asked for.

He straightened himself up and gave a stern expression. He was older now, stronger. There was no need to cower in front of his uncle. He just needed to wait for his father and the servants to get here then they could help him deal with his uncle. For now, he would just play along with Slade’s dinner. He was going to be okay. _“Never again.” He whispered under his breath. “You can’t hurt me ever again.”_

“If you’re wondering where the food is,” Slade spoke up, “I was saving it for your arrival.” He clapped his hands together twice and the door behind him opened with a clatter. Two male servants wearing white porcelain masks walked in each caring a plate with a silver round top covering the food. They set the food down in front of the relatives before leaving the room through the door entering and closing it behind them and locking it. Shuu looked at the covered dish before him skeptically.

“Go on.” Slade said with a smile on his face. “Open it.” Shuu looked at his uncle than at the plate. Taking a deep breath Shuu grabbed the handle of the covering and took it off and set it beside his plate. The dish before him was two cuts of square cooked meat leaning against each other that had blood covering it as a sauce and was topped off with eyeball slices. Shuu stared aghast at the plate. He had been expecting something way worse. He looked up at his uncle with a raised eyebrow.

“I found out that you were the infamous Gourmet,” Slade said. “so, I had your food prepared in a more… elaborate fashion than what I usually eat.” He took off his own covering to reveal two big pieces of raw meat, in some places Shuu could even see white skin, blood covered the meat and puddled on the plate, it was topped off with a single blue eyeball. Slade ran his tongue over his sharpened caine as he stared down at his meal. Shuu looked down at the food before him with a doubtful expression.

“C’mon eat your food, Shuu.” Slade urged his nephew. “Or am I going to have to shove it down your throat again.” The way he had said it made it sound like it was a normal thing. Shuu gave a small gulp and picked up his fork and knife. He put his knife and fork into the one of the pieces of meat. He cut himself a piece of meat and lifted it to his mouth. During this whole process his uncle was staring at him intently. He put the meat in his mouth and chewed slowly.

The meat was course and rough in texture and the blood had a sour taste. He had no doubt in his mind that he was eating the meat of a ghoul. He wasn’t surprised. He had been fed ghoul meat before by his uncle, actually that was the only thing he gave him. He did his best not to gag as he forcefully swallowed the meat.

“How is it?” Slade asked. Shuu looked up at his uncle. He didn’t want him to get enraged, so he lied:

“It’s not bad.”

“Perfect.” With that Slade dug into his own meal. Eating the eyeball first; it popped in his mouth like a grape. He then began cutting of big pieces of meat and putting it into his mouth where he chewed quickly before swallowing. Even with the way he ate he barely made a mess. Shuu just assumed that he didn’t make a mess because he had eaten like that for years and learned how not to be messy. Shuu picked up his glass cup and asked:

“Where did you get this ghoul anyway?” he put the cup to his lips and began to drink. He was rewarded with the same sour taste. Slade swallowed the meat in his mouth, grabbed his napkin and wiped off the few droplets of blood that had escaped his mouth. He smiled showing his blood-stained teeth.

“Well, as I tried to get in here unseen one of your servants saw me and, so I decapitated him and used his remains for tonight’s dinner.” Shuu’s eyes widened and he chocked on his drink. He was cannibalizing one of his servants. He instantly spat out the blood and coughed as he tried to get it all out of his mouth. He grabbed his napkin and fiercely wiped the blood from his mouth. He slammed his hands on the table shouting:

“ _Quel est le problème avec vous_?!” Slade’s eyes narrowed at his nephew’s shout.

“There is nothing wrong with me, Shuu. I fed you servants before, you shouldn’t be upset at this point.”

“Enough of this. Why are you here Slade?” Looking at his nephew’s stern expression he sighed.

“So, much for a dinner.” He muttered, straightening himself up. “After you, Arata, and that other ukaku ghoul… Yomo, I believe his name was, ran me out of Tokyo I retreated back to the Ghoul Kingdom.” Internally Shuu gasped. Slade would always tell him stories of how he was a part of the King of Ghouls, elite force and the Ghoul Kingdom that resided in North America. The majority of Tokyo didn’t know about the Kingdom. Tokyo’s people, having its own ghoul problems and being far away from the Americas, didn’t have the time or patience to worry about the America’s ghoul problems.

“There I healed my wounds, well most of them anyway, and became stronger. I made new allies recently, our cousins Diane and Lydia.” Shuu’s eyes widened at this.

“Those two! I thought that-“ Slade raised a hand and the younger ghoul shut his mouth. Slade continued.

“With them the ghouls had been able to beat back the humans. I hate to admit it, but even with all the resources we have we’re slow. That’s why the king and queen have come to a grand decision to speed up the process… We’re going to come here to start taking over Tokyo.” Shuu’s couldn’t hold back his small squeak of surprise.

“ _T'es sérieux_?” He asked.

“Of course, I’m serious. We’re starting tonight actually.” He should have known that Slade wouldn’t have come alone. But despite the situation he was in, if he could just stall Slade just a little bit longer and wait for help to come they could take out the threat before it could spread.

“Where are you going to start at?” he asked. Slade grabbed his drink and took a couple of sips.

“Well, were going to start in two places actually. One of the places we’re going to strike is Aogiri Tree.” As soon as Slade said that one person rushed through Shuu’s thoughts. _Kaneki_. “Yes, the king and the princess will strike Aogiri and will take out its leader Eto and her two subordinates, Tatara and Noro.” Shuu gave a sigh of relief in his head. “Oh, and I do believe that they may have to take out the executives of the organization.” Shuu gripped the sliver knife on the table with his hand. He needed to stay in control of himself. “I have no doubts that they will take over Aogiri, even with Eto at the top.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Shuu spoke up. “where is your second target?” he already had a thought in mind of what the place was, but he was just waiting for a reason to strike. The smirk that formed on Slade’s face only confirmed his suspicion.

“I’m already here.” That’s all Shuu needed to attack. He stood up from his seat and hurled the knife point first at Slade. It only took half a second for the knife to travel between the distance of Shuu and his uncle. The other caught the knife with a single motion of his hand in front of his scared eye. Shuu’s heart sank. Slade looked at the knife in his hand and laughed. His shoulders bounced, and his hair swayed. Shuu remembered that laugh so well.

“Oh, Shuu,” Slade chuckled, “you thought I wasn’t prepared for that.” He began to twirl the knife between his fingers. “You know I told you all that because I was going to give you the option to join me, but you have clearly shown me that you’re not going to come with me willingly,” he stood up from his seat and slammed the knife into the furnished wood of the table, “Looks like I’m just going to have to _make_ you come with me.”

The table exploded; large pieces of wood went flying everywhere, the table’s contents being thrown to collided with the floor, and the table covering was shredded to pieces. Shuu’s instincts kicked in before the attack happened and he had leaped away from the table to the other end of the room. Slade stood above the remains of the dinner table with his left blazer sleeved torn.

“I thought I had you there for a second.” Slade said. “But I’m happy to see that you still kept my lessons in mind.” Shuu threw off his purple blazer to reveal a red dress shirt and black tie. He sneered and got into the fighting stance he used before he fought Kaneki during their sparing practices. If help wasn’t here he was going to have to fight Slade himself. Slade looked a him with a raised eyebrow before beckoning him forward with a hand. Shuu charged forward at full speed with anger as his fuel. He swung his fist at Slade’s face in a punch. The older ghoul simply leaned back as the punch flew millimeters from his face. Shuu came at him with another punch from the opposite side. This time Slade caught it with a hand.

“Oh, come on, Shuu.” Slade said fiercely, crushing Shuu’s fist in his iron grip. He then socked his nephew in the face with a fist. The punch carried enough force behind it to cause Shuu to fly across the room and collide with the wall. “You’re faster than that, Shuu. Have you gone that soft?” Shuu wiped off the blood that traveled down his chin with the back of his hand before getting back up. He came at his uncle again, but this time kicked at his legs in an attempt to knock him off balance. Slade jumped backwards and dodged the attack.

While in the air he reached underneath his black blazer and pulled out a metallic object. Before Shuu knew it, a sharp projectile was lodged in his right arm. He stumbled back and held his wounded arm. He looked at his arm to see the black arched handle of a dagger. Once Slade landed he did not have a happy expression.

“You really think you have a chance of killing me when you fight like that?” he gave a dry laugh, “Hah, no wonder you’ve been pushed around by that one-eyed ghoul.” Shuu’s eyes widened.

“You kno-“

“Of course, I know about him. It was hard not to with you following him around like a lap dog. It’s pathetic how you put yourself down like you do. When I was here you were the most feared ghoul on the street. Now here you are running errands for some one-eyed freak with mental issues. It’s sickening how much you care for him.” Shuu gritted his teeth and grabbed the handle protruding from his arm.

In one strong tug he ripped the dagger out of his flesh and held it in front of him, ignoring the pain in his arm. Slade looked at the weapon with disinterest. He scoffed and threw open his blazer. Strapped to his blazer were three rows of daggers. Each row of daggers was different. The top row of daggers had short blades that were straight and didn’t curve. The second row of daggers had semi-long blades that were barbed at the end. The final row of daggers had long blades with razor edges. Each of them had the same black arched handle with a rose engraved on it.

Shuu looked at the dagger in his hands and realized that he had a long-bladed dagger. He stared at the blade. He knew how to use it, but by using it he would be giving into what his uncle wanted. He tossed the dagger away. He didn’t need that he had his own blade. His eyes succumbed to his ghoul side as his kakugan activated. His kagune tore through his shirt from his back and twisted around his right arm. He focused on his kagune and it formed a pointed up within moments, a sword. He didn’t wait to attack, immediately charging and swinging his kagune. Slade dodged the first strike and the second then kicked Shuu in the chest when he tried to kick him.

 He stumbled back, but recovered quickly. Slade gave an angered expression before taking one of his barbed daggers and throwing it at his nephew. He blocked it with his kagune, the dagger ricocheting off, before continuing his assault of strikes. He was becoming frustrated at Slade’s superior speed and ability to dodge every attack he tried to hit him with. Slade was becoming frustrated also at his nephew’s resistance and the poor fighting skills he used. He had not taught him that.

“Enough, Shuu!” Slade yelled, catching the violet blade in his hands before it could strike him. Shuu’s eyes widened as he saw Slade’s eyes fill with darkness and his irises and pupils become crimson. The sound of flesh opening and a kagune forming was deafening. He didn’t see the attack coming before he was hit. He collided with the wall and his kagune shattered, but this time he didn’t fall back to the ground. Pain coursed through his abdomen as he tried to move only to feel something in him and pinning him to the wall.

He felt blood rising in his throat and tried to keep it down, but as it started to choke him he coughed and the blood shout out of his mouth. He groaned and looked down through watery eyes to see what had stabbed him. He saw the thick silver and red kagune of his uncle. The four-sharp points went through his abdomen and the wall to pin him there. When he tried to move the serrated edges of the kagune would slice through his insides and cause more damage. He put hands on the kagune to try and stabilize himself and planted his feet against the wall. He looked up at Slade who hadn’t moved at all. His koukaku kagune was split into four limbs with serrated edges and barbed ends. It had a design similar to Shuu’s only it was silver instead of violet. He looked upon his nephew with a disappointed look.

“One of the most powerful ghouls in Tokyo is now some pathetic S rated ghoul with a picky appetite.” Slade said as he began to walk closer. “Oh, that’s just disappointing. I thought you wouldn’t go so _soft_ when I left Tokyo. Well, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. To help fix a broken warrior.” The next step he took there was the sound of plastic crunching under his foot. They both looked down to see a plastic zip locked bag with a bloodied handkerchief inside. Shuu felt his breath catch in his throat as Slade picked it up and looked at it curiously. He tore open the plastic bag and let it fall to the ground as he held the handkerchief.

“DON’T TOUCH THAT!” Shuu screeched, his voice sounding animalistic, trying to claw at Slade who was too far away. Slade silenced him by rotating his kagune 90 degrees. There was a wet sloshing sound as Shuu’s intestines were shredded. He coughed up another gout of blood. Slade lifted the handkerchief to his nose and gave a strong inhale through his nose. His red eyes widened as the scent of the blood went into his nose. He then looked at Shuu and laughed.

“Oh, you really did this.” He said between laughs. “I knew you cared for the half-ghoul, but not to the point where you would keep his blood on a tissue.” He stopped laughing and gave a stern expression. “You know he’s going to die right? With the king and princess both attacking Aogiri he’s basically dead meat.”

“No… he’s… not.” Shuu said through labored breaths.

“Oh, really.” Slade grabbed both ends of the handkerchief and tugged. “You shouldn’t have gotten so close to Kaneki, Shuu.” He tugged harder and the first couple of seems split. Shuu’s eyes widened as he straightened himself.  “Caring for someone in that kind of way isn’t just pathetic for you Shuu, it’s making you weak.” He gave another firm tug and the handkerchief split half way.

“Wait…”

“Lucky for you, your dear Kaneki, the one person that is holding you back from your full potential, will have well, bitten the dust.” He then tore the handkerchief to shreds with several twists of his hands. Shuu could only watch helplessly as his single memento of Kaneki was destroyed before his eyes. His breath became shallow and his eyes became the size of pinpricks. He looked down and his face was shrouded in shadows. _“Never again.” He whispered under his breath. “You can’t hurt me ever again.”_ Shuu put his hands on the Slade’s kagune and attempted to push it out of him. Slade raised an eyebrow at this and smiled.

“Oh, look at you trying to fight back. I bet-“ Shuu’s fingers dug into Slade’s kagune with a crunch. In one burst of pure force he pushed Slade’skagune out of the wall and himself. Such was the force that Slade was sent skidding back a couple of feet. Shuu was a blur of motion as he ran towards Slade. He bent down and grabbed the dagger he had thrown away as he ran past it. He gave an enraged scream as he thrusted the dagger into Slade’s scarred widened eye. Blood spurted out of the eye socket due to the pure force behind the attack. Shuu’s eyes burned with furry and tears as he pushed the dagger deeper into Slade’s eye.

Slade had a counter attack. As Shuu looked to his left he could only stare wide-eyed at the blade that came at his face.

The kagune struck with force and unnatural strength, making a deep vertical gash down Shuu’s face. Shuu screamed as he fell in a heap on the ground. He tugged in his legs and he wrapped an arm around the wound on his stomach. The left side of his face burned with every facial movement he made, and his left eyes vision was blocked by the blood invading it. He pitifully looked up at Slade with a strained expression. As he looked up at his uncle with his kagune unleashed, he felt like he was a little kid again, bleeding out on the training room floor.

Slade’s kagune was wrapped around his left arm like a coil with small serrated edges jutting out and following the flow of the coil. There was a large serrated blade at the end of the coil that gleamed from the light in the room. It was a brilliant silver with darker lines swirling around its length. Slade tightly gripped the handle of the dagger with a hand before yanking it out of his eye socket. Blood gushed out of the wound as he placed a hand over it.

“There we go!” Slade exclaimed. “I knew that savage side of you was still in there. Took a while for you to show it though.” The gushing from his eye sockets stopped and he removed his hand. The kakugan was healed with the excess blood surrounding it. “But all it took to bring it back was,” he looked down at the handkerchief shreds that scattered the bloody floor, “destroying the entity that was marked by your _dear Kaneki_. Ken Kaneki.” He crouched down next to Shuu and they were almost eye level, but due to Slade’s height Shuu had to crane his neck to look up at his uncle.  Slade reached out a hand and grabbed Shuu’s chin even though the other tried to lean away. Slade gave a small smile and cocked his head to the side.

“It’s tragic really. To _love_ someone so dearly only for them to be taken away from you in an instant and there’s nothing you can do about. That was what happened to me when you and Arata tried to kill me.”

The doors behind Shuu was torn apart and the sound of splintering wood exploding behind him. From the wreckage six vine like tentacles shot out. Instinctively Slade leaped back upon seeing the new kagune. The tentacles wrapped around Shuu’s huddled form and picked him off the ground. He was promptly brought out of the dinning room and into the hallway. His eyes were closed as he felt himself be cradled by the kagune and rushed down the hall.

“Don’t worry Master Shuu!” the worried voice of Kanae reached his ears. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Kanae… you came.” Shuu said weakly as he coughed.

“Of course, we came for you Master Shuu.” The calming voice of Matsumae sounded beside him. “I apologize for not getting to you sooner. I failed you.” He peeked open his one good eye and through the blurry image saw Matsumae’s down cast expression as she jogged beside Kanae.

“Don’t blame… yourself. You… tried.” Shuu responded between gasps. Matsumae’s expression brightened up slightly, but her dark eyes still held deep sorrow.  They rounded a corner and Matsumae ran in front of Kanae and threw open the set of doors in front of them. Kanae ran inside with Shuu and Matsumae quickly followed after them. She closed the doors shut and locked them. Kanae gently laid down a wounded Shuu on the couch in the small lounge room. He immediately retracted his kagune and ran to his master’s side. He knelt down by his side and looked over his injuries with horror.

“Oh, Master Shuu what have they done to you!” He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe off the blood on his face. Shuu’s abdomen wound was in the process of healing; he felt his innards shift inside of him painfully as they realigned themselves. The wound on his face burned and wasn’t doing so well as it was barely healing.

“ _Ich werde den Ghul töten, der das getan hat, sobald ich Sie in die Hände bekommen habe_.” Kanae hissed under his breath as he pulled the bloodied handkerchief away and combed a hand through Shuu’s disheveled hair. “You need to eat Master Shuu!” Kanae said as he rolled up his sleeve and put up his arm. “Here you can-“

“No, Kanae.” Shuu said sternly as he pushed his servant’s arm away. Kanae gave a surprised look.

“But, Master Shuu you need to heal.”

“And I will. I’ve eaten enough ghoul today Kanae, I don’t need to take a bite out of you.”

Kanae’s expression faded and he pulled his sleeve back up. Matsumae walked over to the pair and knelt down next to Kanae. Shuu took in a deep breath and pushed himself up, being careful of the wound on his abdomen. He looked at his two loyal servants with a stern expression.

“Where’s my father?” Matsumae answered before Kanae could speak.

“I was told by a maid that the dinner was going to be moved to a different room. So, I walked with Master Mirumo to the new assigned room. We were ambushed by ghouls once we got inside the room. I fought the other ghouls to protect Master Mirumo and it didn’t take long for another to hear the commotion and help. With Kanae’s assistance we killed the other ghouls. Master Mirumo then told us to go look for you while he went to go look for the person responsible for the attack. As we went to go look for you we ran into more opposing ghouls along the way which slowed us down.”

“But Papa’s okay right?” Shuu asked quickly.

“I’m not sure Master Shuu.” Matsumae said solemnly. His pupil shrank at this and he looked down as he stifled a whimper. He couldn’t lose his father yet. He hadn’t apologized to him for his outburst yet. Seeing his hurt expression Kanae quickly said:

“But I’m sure he’s okay Master Shuu. He’s stronger than those ghouls out there.”

“But is he stronger than Slade, Kanae?” Shuu ask coldly. “Cause that’s the ghoul responsible for all of this.” Kanae tilted her head at this and Matsumae did her best to keep her surprise hidden.

“Slade’s dead Master Shuu.” Kanae said slowly. “You told us so.”

“I thought he was. He’s even stronger than I thought to be able to survive that fall in the condition he was in. Now that he’s back he’s planning to take over Tokyo. _C'est si mauvais._ ” **(This is so bad)** He put a hand on the uninjured side of his face and he shook his head. The Tsukiyama family was under attack, he was separated from his father, and the ghoul that caused his life to be a living hell in the past was back with the intent of taking everything he had from him. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn’t he live a happy life with his family? Why did he have to be punished?

“Master Shuu.” Shuu looked up when Matsumae spoke. Her calm demeanor had not changed one bit. “You and Master Mirumo have to get out of here.” Shuu gave his servant a surprised look.

“What?” he asked. Matsumae continued.

“If you both are to survive you have to escape.”

“But how are we supposed to do that with Slade here?”

“It’s simple Master Shuu, Kanae and I are going to hold him off.” Shuu’s eyes widened and he sat up further.

“No.” he said fiercely. “You can’t do that, he’ll kill both of you.”

“I know he will, but if it means you and Master Mirumo live it is worth it.”

“But I can’t lose any of you. I care about you too much.” He cried out. Kanae kept his gaze down while Matsumae continued to look in the eyes.

“I know you do and we care about you too, but it is the way of the servant to protect the master.” When Shuu kept looking at her with a panicked expression she put a hand on his shoulder. “Master Shuu, if you die you won’t be able to be Kaneki’s sword.” Shuu’s pupil narrowed at this and he cast his gaze downward. Kanae’s head shot up and he glared at Matsumae. The other didn’t react to his glare continuing to look at her master. “Just think about it. How will you ever be able to be by Kaneki’s side if you’re dead.” She knew she was putting Shuu in a hard spot and she was doing it on purpose. She wanted Shuu to survive. She needed to give her master a reason to live.

“Master Shuu you don’t have to listen to Matsumae.” Kanae said quickly. Matsumae only gave a quick glance at Kanae before looking back at Shuu. “We can think of another way. Maybe we can-” Kanae’s rant fell deaf on Shuu’s ears as he contemplated Matsumae’s words.

She was right. If he died he wouldn’t be there to protect Kaneki, to be his sword. Kaneki was in danger this very moment if what Slade said was true. He had to be there to save Kaneki. He would die for him if necessary. That’s when it clicked in his head. He would die for Kaneki because he loved him. Matsumae was willing to die for Shuu because she loved him. He would do anything to make sure Kaneki survived and Matsumae would do anything for him. If he wanted to save Kaneki he would have to escape. If he wanted to escape he was going to have to fight. He closed his eye and took a deep breath. He focused on the wound that was on his abdomen and the torn apart flesh. He forced his flesh to come together and mend the ripped fibers. He let out a breath he had been holding and sat up completely as he felt the last layer skin roll over his stomach. He opened his eye and glared at Kanae.

“Kanae stop talking.” Shuu said firmly. Kanae shut his mouth when his master spoke. “Matsumae is right. My father and I have to get out of here if we’re going to survive.” He then stood up and dusted himself off. Matsumae and Kanae stood up as well. Before anyone of them could do anything, they were both pulled into a tight embrace by Shuu. Matsumae smiled and hugged back while Kanae buried his face into Shuu’s shoulder and hugged him tightly.

“Please know that I love both of you.” Shuu said softly. He gave one final squeeze before letting go. He walked over to the door and opened them. He ran to the end of the hallway with the others following close behind him. There was a break in hallway where it turned to the right and to the left. Shuu went to the left while Matsumae and Kanae went to the right. They stopped and turned to each other. The two servants bowed one final time, showing respect to their master.

“It was an honor serving you Master Shuu.” Matsumae said. Shuu looked over his beloved servants one last time and said:

“ _Puissiez-vous tous les deux tomber dans la bataille en tant que héros glorieux à votre maître Matsumae et Kanae._ ” **(May you both fall in battle as glorious heroes to your master, Matsumae and Kanae.)** With those final words he turned around and ran down the hallway. Matsumae and Kanae got up from their bowed positions and ran down their hallway.

“Matsumae-san.” Kanae said as he turned to his fellow servant. Matsumae looked at him.

“Yes, Kanae-san?”

“Was it really a good idea to let Master Shuu go by himself? He was highly injured when we found him, who’s to say it won’t happen again?” Matsumae smiled at Kanae’s question.

“He won’t let that happen to himself again. Did you forget what he was like when he was younger? I know that he’s going to use Slade’s teachings even though it pains him to do so.” The other looked skeptical.

“Please trust me Kanae-san when I say,” she turned her head to look forwards, “he is one of the strongest ghouls you and I have ever met in our lives.”

* * *

Shuu threw open the door to his bedroom with a slam and closed it quickly behind, locking it. He ran into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. The wound on his face wasn’t healing. The wound on his face was a vertical bloody gash that started at the bottom of his left eye and ended at his jawline. He was able to open his eye again, though it was pink and puffy. No matter how hard he had tried to heal it, it didn’t heal. He was worried about it being a nuisance and didn’t have the time to stand around and wait for it to heal, so he had to take care of it.

He turned on the facet and stuck is face under the cool water. It burned terrible and hissed in pain, but he continued to wash it. Once he was done he turned off the facet and brought his soaked face up. He grabbed a rag and gently pat down his face, the rag becoming wet with water and blood. He put the rag down and ran back into his bedroom. He went to his dresser and opened a drawer, fumbling around for a couple of seconds before finding what he needed. He pulled out a silver needle and a roll of violet thread. He ran back into the bathroom and set down the thread on the sink counter

He gripped the needle in one hand and grabbed the end of the thread with the other. He brought both close up to his face and with careful hands put the thread through the eye of the needle. He promptly tied a knot and got closer to the mirror. Brought the needle to the bottom of his chin where the wound ended.

“This is going to be painful.” Shuu said quietly to himself as he prepared to plunge the need into his skin. “But I had worse.”

He dug the needle underneath the first layer of skin then pushed it to the side, so the point stuck out where his skin stopped and revealed raw flesh. He readjusted his hands so that he could grab the end of the needle with his fingers and pull it all the way through. To save time he brought the needle up at a diagonal angle instead of straight across. He dug the needle underneath his skin once more and pushed it at an upwards angle, so the point popped up from underneath his skin. He pulled the needle lightly and the string closed part of the wound.

He continued this pattern again and again. Burring the needle into his skin to only bring it back and pull his wound close. He made barely any sounds as all of his concentration was on not messing up and plunging the needle into his wound instead of his skin. Regaurdless of him doing his best his face still burned as the wounded flesh was forced to move. Blood coated his fingers once more as he continued to stitck up his wound. Once he made it to right at the bottom of his eye he gave one final tug. The last part of the wound came together. He broke off the end of the string and set the bloodied needle down on the counter.

He took a deep breath and admired his handy work. The stitching was not in its traditional style instead it took the form of large zig-zags that mimicked a lightning bolt. A dark red streak took the place of where his opened wound was, and a couple of blood rivulets ran down the mark. The skin around the stiches had a pink tint to them and looked irritated. He ran his fingers over the purple stiches slowly as he stared at himself at the mirror.

Now that his wound was taken care it was time for him to find his father. He knew if he wanted to get out of here with his father alive was going to have to step up his game. He had been defeated by his uncle to easy. If he were in this situation in the past, he would have been able to injure Slade and escape on his own without the help from his servants. If he were in the past, he would have already escaped with his father.

If he were in the past…

The sudden idea that popped into his head made him sick. He had changed for a reason. To go back to his first fighting style would go against his personal code and give Slade what he wanted… but desperate times called for desperate measures. Making his decision he then looked over to his bed and the dark shadows underneath. He slowly walked over to his bed his breath quivering. Once he got to the side of his bed he got down on his knees and sat on his shins. He reached under his bed and began to feel underneath it.

It didn’t take long for his hands to run into the familiar wooden object. He grabbed the object and pulled it from the darkness underneath the bed and into the light of his bedroom. The thing hiding under his bed was a chest. Dust covered the chest from years of neglect and its colors had faded. It was a small wooden chest that was painted a dark violet. It had a silver and purple trimming around it’s perimeter. On the top of the chest was a painted violet rose with black vines and crimson thorns. He ran his hands over the old chest brushing off the dust that covered it.

“I never thought that I would ever see this again, let alone plan to use it.” He put his hand over the latch and opened it. There was a click as the latch snapped open and the top of the chest lifted upwards. He opened the chest slowly, the hinges squealing with rust. He looked down at the contents of the chest and felt a sense of déjà vu fill his being. At the bottom was a leather fabric that was a dark violet almost black in color. On top of that was a set of daggers varying in size and blade design. The handles of the daggers were a dark violet and had a rose engraved on the side.

The final object inside the chest was a mask. The mask was made out of a metallic material and covered the top part of a face and arched downwards to the left side to cover half of the bottom of it, it had a resemblance to his present crescent moon mask. It was a licorice black with sinisterly made eye holes. A violet-colored rose was on the left side of the mask and had dark silver vines with red thorns that twisted down the mask. He picked up the mask and gently set it beside him and he did the same with the daggers. He picked up the leather fabric and shook it out.

It unfolded and revealed itself too be a long trench coat with a v neck and thick leather strap going around the lower waist line. On the left upper breast was an embroidery of a violet rose. The most surprising details about it were the two big holes on the back that were located in the shoulder blade area and the lower back. He set the coat down and picked up the mask. He looked at the mask one last time, taking in the familiar design and violet rose.

“For the greater good.” He said to himself determined. He flipped it around and placed the old mask onto his face.

* * *

Running down the hallways in his old outfit felt strange yet so natural at the same time. The outfit had been made larger for his younger body, so he could grow into it. The coat fit his broad body perfectly and a set of deadly daggers lay beneath waiting to be used. The mask covered up his stiches irritating his wound further, but he ignored it. He almost felt as if he had gone back in time wearing the outfit. It made him enraged, but the thought of getting out with his father by his side kept his feelings of ire at bay. He hoped that he wouldn’t run into any ghouls, but his hopes were crushed when he heard the footsteps of another around the corner. He rounded the corner and came face to face with an enemy.

The ghoul wore a black cloak with the hood pulled up. The ghoul’s mask was white and carried the expression of a fanged monster, the red eyes only gave it a more frightening look. They stopped in their tracks out of surprise when they saw Shuu. Shuu stopped also, his heart racing. The ghoul gave a deep growl and the eyes seemed to give an angry flash. From the ghoul’s backside their kagune erupted forth with a whip-like sound and a burst of colors.

The ghoul’s kagune was a bikaku and took the form of a dark red snake-light appendage that wagged around him like a tail. Once they unleashed their kagune they immediately charged Shuu. Shuu responded appropriately charging forwards. He noticed with delight that he was faster than the bikaku ghoul. The red appendage thrashed around like a whip and shot out to strike at Shuu. Shuu felt time slow down as he ran towards the ghoul and their outstretched kagune. As he prepared his assault, he felt memories from his past he usually would try to push away, but this time he let the memories flow through and take form in his mind.

_Shuu tightened his koukaku sword around his arm as he hit the ground with a hard thud. He groaned and pushed himself up even with the weight of the his kagune dragging his small body down. Across from him was a larger ghoul and much older than himself. The ghoul’s thick tail-like kagune waved around him threateningly._

_“Bikaku ghouls_ _typically have a kagune that has a tail-like appearance and is released around the coccyx.” The booming sound of his uncle sounded through the large training room. he stood aside from the fighting area Shuu and the other ghoul and observed with narrowed eyes._

_“Their kagune can overpower a weaker ghoul due to the force they pack in their attacks. They are also able to move at incredible speeds when needed to finish an opponent or get out of the way of an attack. Also, since their kagune’s are thick they can use this to defend vital parts of their body. they seem unstoppable… To the untrained eye.” The ghoul looked at him and with a nod from Slade the ghoul charged._

Shuu jumped at the last moment and flipped over the cloaked ghoul looking down. His coat fluttered around him and his violet hair waved across his face. His scleras harbored darkness while his irises gleamed a shining crimson. The ghoul looked up at him and underneath the white mask he knew the ghoul had a look of surprise.

_Shuu retracted his kagune and focused purely on dodging and weaving through the powerful attacks of the bikaku. As he dodged he listed carefully to his uncle as he spoke._

_“The ukaku ghoul is the ghoul with the naturally built kagune to deal with bikakus. They use high speed attacks and projectiles produced from their kagune to slip through the cracks of a bikaku’s defense. You and I are koukakus and thus can’t attack the same way an ukaku would attack, but you can think like one. They look for any openings or gaps a bikaku may have and once they catch of glimpse of it they use it to they’re advantaged to strike their opponents down. We may not be ukaku ghouls, but that does not hinder our ability to take one of these ghouls down.”_

_Shuu grit his teeth as a blow grazed his side. He threw himself to the ground and towards the other ghoul. He then rolled as the kagune crush the ground he had laid on moments before. As he came out of his roll he landed right in front of the other ghoul. He simultaneously unleashed his kagune and used the momentum from the roll to thrust it forward. The ghoul could only stare wide-eyed at Shuu as the smaller ghoul’s kagune pierced his heart._

Still in the air Shuu reached inside his coat and pulled out two gleaming daggers. He hurled them at the ghoul and the imbedded themselves in the ghoul’s eye and throat. Shuu landed behind the ghoul who was now making horrid gurgling sounds as his kagune thrashed around him franticly. Shuu sprinted forwards once more narrowly dodge the thrashes of the bikaku. He held out his arm and his trademark violet koukaku came forth to create a brilliant sword.

Too busy clawing at the daggers that were in them, the ghoul had no way to stop the fatal blow the sword delivered to the back of their head. The back of their skull shattered and Shuu could see brain matter as he pushed his kagune all the way through the ghoul’s head. He felt a rush of shock and excitement as he brought down the other ghoul. He would usually sneak some of the moves he learned in the past into his present fighting style but using it all together gave him a burst of adrenaline.

The ghoul stilled, their kagune disintegrating into a red mist as they both died. Shuu brought his kagune out of the ghoul’s head and their corpse collapsed on the ground. Shuu looked on the back of the cloak and saw that an azure-colored arch had been stitched into the black fabric. He gave a worried expression as he looked at the symbol.

“This is more serious than I thought.” With that Shuu spun around and continued to run down the hallway. The rush from his last kill still flowing through his body. He had to keep going. He wasn’t so surprised the next time he rounded a corner and saw another enemy in the hallway. Only this time the outfit was different. It had the same color and concept, but the ghoul wore a suit of black armor instead of a cloak and the azure arch was engraved on the upper left part of his chest. His short black hair stuck out behind the white mask.

Upon seeing Shuu the ghoul released his ukaku kagune which took the form of two red insect- like wings that had small spikes on the rims. He spread his wings and Shuu could see it crystalizing and preparing to shoot out crystal shards. Shuu felt himself smile as he saw the ghoul release a barrage of red crystal shards towards him.

_Shuu jumped back as red crystal shards imbedded themselves into the ground where he once stood. The ghoul in front of him cursed angerly and sent out another barrage of shards from his ukaku kagune. Shuu sprang to the side to dodge the shards once more. As he continued to dodge shards he paid close attention to his uncle’s words as he spoke._

_“As you can see the ukaku ghoul has a kagune that is released in the shoulder area. It is mostly used for high speed attacks and the user themselves can move at high speeds. They also have the ability to crystalize their kagune and send out crystal projectiles. They usual do long range attacks do to this ability and short-range attacks can be an ukaku’s weaknesses. But it’s not just short-range attacks, since they disperse a large amount of Rc cells they tire faster than other ghouls.” Shuu brought up his kagune to block a couple of shards that would have decapitated him. The shards shattered the instant they collided with the koukaku kagune._

_“Lucky for us Shuu these ghoul’s kagune are inferior to our koukaku kagune. We’re able to use our kagune’s to defend against the projectiles shot at us until the ukaku tires themselves out, but time is a very valuable thing in battle and taking the time to wait for an ukaku to tire can be a life or death decision. So, its best to use the ukaku’s weakness of short range attacks to finish them off.”_

_By now Shuu could see the strain on the older ghoul’s face as he desperately tried to hit Shuu. The younger ghoul used this to his advantage to sprint forward towards the ghoul. The ghoul sent out one last barrage of shards, but there were fewer and came at him at a lesser speed. He rolled under the shards and between the ghoul’s legs to bring himself behind the other ghoul. Before the ghoul could even turn around Shuu already had his kagune half way through his brain._

Shuu brought his kagune in front of him and widened the band to protect his upper half. The projectiles collided against the koukaku shield and shattered against the harder surface. Once the barrage ended Shuu sprinted forwards with his kagune raised. The ghoul continued to fire barrages of shards and Shuu blocked each barrage with his kagune. Once the ghoul was in striking range Shuu attacked, swinging his sword in arch to cut the ghoul in half. The ukaku ghoul leapt backwards to dodge the strike, but what he couldn’t dodge was the three gleaming daggers that were thrown at him by Shuu.

_Shuu stared down at the ghoul he had just slain with an expressionless face._

_“Well done Shuu.” His uncle congratulated him. “You remind me of myself when I was younger.” Shuu continued to stare at the corpse and the last horrified face it made before he splattered its brains across the training room floor. “Shuu look at me.” Hearing his uncles voice so close he turned to look up and his uncle who in turn looked down at him. “Even though we have the upper hand on ukaku ghouls not all ukakus can be easily defeated.” Shuu gave a slight tilt of his head but didn’t say anything. “When you get older you are going to meet a family of ukaku ghouls and they… they are going to be the strongest ukakus you will ever meet. You cannot underestimate them in the slightest or you will die. Do you understand?”_

_“Yes sir.” Was Shuu’s immediate reply. “Do you know who they are?” he dared to ask. Instead of the usual slap to the face for questioning his uncle, his uncle gave a smile that made him cringe._

_“Of course, I do. They’re the Kirishimas.”_

The ghoul fell from the air and landed on the ground as a corpse. Shuu strutted over to the corpse and tore out the daggers that were stuck in it. He slid the bloodied daggers back inside his coat before taking off once more. He was slowly turning back into the monster he was when he was younger. Did he hate that? He wasn’t quite sure yet. Another turn around a corner, another ghoul in his path. This ghoul wore the same cloak as the first ghoul he encountered, but the white mask only covered the upper half of the ghoul’s face.

Shuu watched as the ghoul snarled and released his crimson rinkaku kagune that took the form of four slim tentacles that had claws at their ends. Shuu stared at the kagune and the thought of Kaneki flooded into his mind. He remembered the words Slade had said about Kaneki and felt his emotions began to bubble up. His body tensed up and his hands curled into fists as his kakugan flared. The ghoul noticed Shuu’s tense form and made to attack him, sending out his clawed tentacles.

_Shuu stared in horror at the monster that stood before him. It caused his stomach to turn and his pupils to shrink. He had faced kakujas before, either by his uncle who had brought them for him to fight for training or he had run into them on his nights out. But this kakuja, the one snarling before him now was no doubt the most terrifying he had ever seen. He felt his kagune tighten around his arm out of dread and his heart pound in his ears. The kakuja made the first move, hurdling his two mutated tentacles forward with a twisted grin on his face._

_Shuu leapt backwards, narrowly dodging the tentacles as they buried themselves into the ground he had stood moments before. Shuu landed hastily on his feet looked up at the kakuja. The kakuja screeched, charging forward like an animal, kagune thrashing. Shuu narrowed his eyes and widened his stance. With another ear-piercing screech, the kakuja swung his left tentacle at Shuu who brought up his kagune to block the attack. There where was a loud crack as the kagunes collided and Shuu was almost sent tumbling back from the force, but he kept his stance.  He moved quickly to block the follow up attack from the kakuja then ducked when his attacker tried to decapitate him with a kick._

_This however left an opening for Shuu to strike and once he saw it he took the chance to strike his opponent. He swung his sword and cut clean across the kakuja’s side. The kakuja screamed in pain as blood gushed from his wound. His face twisted into a grimace behind his malformed mask and stumbled back. Shuu could hear incoherent threats the kakuja hissed between his clenched teeth. As the kakuja faced him raising his tentacles preparing to attack, Shuu couldn’t help, but look into the eyes of the demon. The single point of crimson gleamed back at him, unwavering._

Shuu reacted to the attack slower than he was comfortable with. He had a second to slash the tentacles before they could harm him. But in his hastens he missed one and it buried itself in his chest. He hissed in pain as he stumbled back. Seeing as if he had the upper hand the ghoul charged Shuu head on with his single remaining tentacle aimed towards Shuu’s head. Though as he got closer his opponent looked up at him and gave a smug grin. To late he realized the mistake he had made and felt-

_Shuu hadn’t moved when he should of have. He had felt glued to the floor and his body ceased to obey his commands to move. The blow that had been delivered to his side had been devastating and the pain that still lingered was agonizing. This is how he found himself here. Sitting on the cold floor with his back against the wall he had been slammed into, with the kakuja on top of him with his tentacles imbedded in his sides, his bloodied fingers in his back piercing his kakuhou, and the set of fierce teeth that tore into the crook of his neck. He struggling to breath as the kakuja bit down harder with a muffled chuckle._

_In one yank of his head the kakuja tore out a chunk of Shuu’s flesh. Pain shot through his shoulder and he bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming. He watched the kakuja greedily devour the flesh in his mouth. The kakuja hummed as he licked the excess blood off his lips and went back to take another bite. Though as his teeth sunk into the others flesh he felt a pair of arms embrace him. He froze as a hand began to gently rub his back and another stroke through his stringy white hair._

_“It’s fine.” Shuu said hoarsely as he forced his body to relax. “It’s fine if you’re hungry and want to eat me **mon porteur** , I won’t mind. I am here to serve you am I not?” No response came from the kakuja, so he continued. “I’m here to catch you when you fall and pick you up when you crash down no matter what. That is what I promised you and I intend to fulfill that promise to the end of my days... but if you do eat me I won’t be able to do any of those or be your sword anymore... So, please choose wisely.” _

_There was a moment of silence and Shuu thought that the kakuja was going to continue eating him, but to his surprise the teeth gripping him let go, the fingers tearing into his back dug themselves out, and the tentacles imbedded in him began to pull themselves out and disintegrate. The kakuja unwrapped his arm from Shuu and placed them limply in his lap and sat back. Shuu looked at the kakuja as he tilted his head up to look at him. The malformed mask on the kakuja’s face had begun to break and fracture. Shuu brought a hand up to the kakuja’s face and batted away the rest of the crumpling mask to reveal the face behind it. What stood out most about the kakuja’s face were his eyes._

_One a fading crimson, the other a dull silver, both filled with tears that cascaded down bloodied cheeks. Shuu leaned in close to him and placed his warm hands the others damp cheeks. He ran his thumbs over them to wipe off the blood and tears. He looked into the once fierce eyes of the kakuja that now showed the emotion of shock and sadness as they stared back into Shuu’s violet ones. Then Shuu spoke, and his voice carried the softness of an angel._

_“Are you ready to come back to me, Kaneki-kun?”_

Shuu stared down at the headless corpse of the rinkaku ghoul. It had taken one swift move of his kagune sword to slice off the ghoul’s head. The wound on his chest healed leaving leftover blood on his skin. The memory of him and Kaneki was still fresh in his mind. He had to get out of here. He had to find his father before Slade did. Sadly, he knew his servants couldn’t hold off the monster for long. He sprinted once again, determination ragging in his heart. He turned the corner and expected to see the usually hallway with an enemy ghoul ready to fight. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

He had reached the end of the hallway and it opened up to a large room with the hallway continuing on the other side of it. He came to a standstill as he took in the complete view of the room and stared at it in horror. The room’s décor was trashed with the expensive paintings and wall decorations destroyed and scattered across the floor. Blood was splattered across the walls in a sloppy fashion. Multiple rivulets dripped down the wall slowly.

Though what stood out most were the bloodied corpses of servants that littered the room and the ghoul that stood at the center of the ring of corpses. Shuu gasped as he recognized the faces of some of the corpses. He recognized the bright eyes of Aliza as her decapitated head stared up at him. He recognized the dark hair of the upper half of Yuma’s corpse. He didn’t just recognized corpses, but he also recognized the ghoul that stood at the center of the room.

The ghoul was female who was tall, had a well-built physique, and had a skin tone similar to Shuu’s. Her attire was different from the other ghoul’s. Instead of a black cloak the she-ghoul wore a business type attire. Wearing a white button up shirt with a black blazer, a black pencil skirt with dark grey tights and black flats. Around her neck was a violet tie with intricate lines. She had a rather attractive face even though her face held no emotion and looked relaxed with her eyelids lowered slightly. She had velvet purple hair that went to her shoulders with the bangs cut short which allowed her pale green eyes to show. Shuu sneered at the ghoul while the other looked him up and down calmly.

“You look older.” The she-ghoul said in a calm monotonous voice, her neutral expression never changing. “Actually, you look like your mother, Tsukiyama-san.”

“Well, you haven’t changed a bit, Lydia-san.” Shuu retorted to Lydia’s comment. “Looks like you had some fun killing my servants, _sale porc_.” **(You, filthy pig)** At this Lydia gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and said:

“Not really. They got in my way, so I simply disposed of them. It wasn’t exactly fun, but I wasn’t bored doing it. Were you attached to them?” Lydia asked.

“I knew most of them since I was a child.” Shuu hissed.

“Well, just know they died for your sake. Though I really can’t see why. With all you have done, they’re probably burring in hell because they fought for you.” Shuu grit his teeth and with a flurry of rage his sword was formed at his side. He leveled it at Lydia and said:

“Know this Lydia-san, just because we’re related doesn’t mean I have any qualms slaughtering you.” Lydia looked at Shuu’s kagune lazily. The back of Lydia’s outfit was torn open as her koukaku kagune broke through. It wrapped around her arms like a silver snake before straightening out past her finger tips to form into katana-like blades. Her red eyes still held no emotion as she got her twin blades into a battle-ready position.

“The feeling is mutual, Tsukiyama-san.” With those words said Shuu threw himself at Lydia with powerful push of his legs. He swung his sword downward at Lydia who brought up her blades to block the strike. She pushed the offending kagune back before ducking to avoid the follow up strike. She then caught him off guard by kicking him in the gut which caused him to stumble back.

“A little rusty aren’t you.” Lydia commented nonchalantly. Shuu growled and straightened himself back up.

“I’m just getting started.” He retorted preparing to strike again.

_Shuu did his best to push against the larger koukaku kagune with his own but was quickly pushed to the ground. He looked up at his uncle as the older ghoul towered over him, his kakugan blazing with anger and kagune held up threateningly._

_“That’s not how you do it, Shuu!” the older ghoul screamed with rage. Shuu flinched as Slade took a step closer to him. “At your age I was already able to do ten times the things you can do. Are you retarded?!” He raised his kagune getting ready to send it down and Shuu through his kagune over his face to shield his eyes, preparing for the pain. But the pain never did come. He moved his kagune and looked back up to his uncle taking in deep breaths and shaking in fear._

_“No.” Slade said quietly and closed his eyes as the anger faded from his face. “No, that’s not the problem.” Shuu never liked it when his uncle went quiet. The calm before the storm. “The problem is I’m not teaching you correctly.” Slade opened his eyes and Shuu felt his heart skip a beat at the twisted smile that formed on Slade’s face. “I need to use a different method to get it through your thick skull.” Shuu’s eyes widened and he sat up._

_“N-No you don’t!” he cried pitifully. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to do what you told me. I-I’ll try harder, I promise.”_

_“Shut up!” at his uncle’s sharp voice he immediately shut his mouth. “I don’t want to hear your pitiful whining. Pleading is for the weak. Now get up.”_

_“B-But,” Shuu stuttered._

_“Now boy!” not a moment later Shuu stood up as his uncle ordered. He felt himself shaking out of fear as he gazed up in horror at his uncle. He didn’t even see his uncle move before the first attack struck hit him. It shattered his kagune and the pieces quickly dissolved in a red mist. He tumbled on the ground as he was sent reeling backwards. As he landed on his side with his vison blurred by pain and tears he could hear the cruel voice of his uncle as he spoke._

Shuu’s sword collided with Lydia’s blades numerous times as they dueled. Lydia was fast and strong enough to fend of Shuu’s attacks and was even able to strike at him, but they never hit. He either blocked them with his kagune or dodged them completely. She also did the same for his attacks dodging and blocking but she noticed with dismay that his attacks were getting stronger.

 _“Koukaku ghouls have a_ _kagune that is released below the shoulder blade. Normally for defense, they are shaped into armors or shields, however the shape for offense, is a different story.” Slade slammed his kagune into Shuu again. And again, and again. Shuu felt like a rag doll as he was thrown around by his uncle. As he was savagely thrown around he could help but hear his uncle’s taunting voice ring through his head._

_“They can be shaped like melee weapons such as drills, hammers, blades, and of course swords. But due to its high density of Rc cells, it is heavy and extremely robust, giving it the greatest sturdiness and making them very well suited for defense. Therefore, koukakus are slow and can be taken down by a faster ghoul._

Lydia ducked an attack at the last moment and felt Shuu’s kagune slice through her shoulder like butter. She stumbled back as blood poured from her wound, though no pain showed on her face. She quickly lifted up her blades to block Shuu’s sword from wounding her again. Shuu pushed against Lydia’s kagune and the two kagunes screeched against each other as Lydia pushed back as well. Shuu bared his teeth as he noticed Lydia’s wound already starting to heal. He suddenly stepped back causing her to fall forwards. He took this chance to deliver a kick to her chest and with the sound of bone crunching she was sent flying back.

_“But not us! We are a superior breed of ghouls and will not succumb to the weaknesses of lower ghouls. No lesser ghoul should be able to challenge our might. They crawl on the ground as insects scavenging scraps while we sit on thrones and eat like kings.” Slade slammed his nephew into the ground one more time before picking up Shuu’s broken body by the neck and bringing him up to his face. “Which is why my dear Shuu that you need to get stronger. Not just to carry the weight of your kagune, but also because there are ghouls out there that are stronger than you. You have to be stronger than them or they will kill you, and then you will be nothing more than a pathetic corpse. But… you cannot just be the stronger ghoul._

Shuu didn’t end his assault. He charged her the moment she hit the floor. He came at her swinging with his kagune and she brought up her blades to block the attack. Though when the two kagunes collided she felt her kagune shatter under the force of Shuu’s sword. She stared at him wide-eyed as he raised his sword once more and brought it down.

_“You need to be the strongest ghoul.”_

Lydia didn’t scream or thrash as she was impaled by Shuu’s sword. She was pinned to the ground through her abdomen by her opponents kagune. No pain showed on her face and she simply looked up at him she with a calm expression. Shuu glared down at her with hatred.

“You really thought that you could kill me, Lydia-san?” he asked. “Please I have fought foes greater than you.” At this the impaled ghoul raised an eyebrow. Her reaction to his words puzzled him.

“Who said I was trying to kill you? I was just stalling you until reinforcements arrived.”

Not a moment had past after she said that before the sound of an ukaku kagune firing hit his ears. He turned around to see a large barrage of cerulean blue crystal shards race towards him. He instinctively tried to bring up his kagune to block the shards, but he couldn’t move it. He looked down to see Lydia had grabbed onto to his kagune in a death grip. Before he could tear her fingers off the shards imbedded themselves deep into his flesh. He bit down on his tongue to not scream as he felt his kakuhou get ripped apart. His kagune broke into pieces which dissolved in a red mist.

Once the barrage ended Shuu weakly stumbled to the side and hunched over in pain. Lydia took this chance and kicked him in the side which sent him colliding with the back wall. He crumpled to the ground and coughed up a gout a blood that had made its way up his throat. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and leaned on the wall for support. He looked up to see a swarm of cloaked ghouls rush in through the hallway he had entered. At the front of the group was a female ghoul dressed in black combat gear with the azure arch imprinted on the upper left breast. She wore a black mask that covered her entire face. Though for the eyeholes there were two red circular lenses that glowed brightly. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail which reach her shoulder blades. What stood out about her hair was that it had cerulean blue highlights which caused most of her ponytail to be a bright color.

It didn’t take long before Shuu was cornered by the new group of ghouls. The she-ghoul that had led the group didn’t confront him right away. Instead she ran over to Lydia who was trying to stand up. She held out her gloved hand to Lydia, which she took, and pulled her up. Once standing Lydia dusted off her clothes and looked at the masked ghoul.

“You’re late.” Was all she said before walking in front off the group of ghouls that surrounded Shuu. The other ghoul made a shocked sound behind her mask and said in a distorted voice:

“Was that supposed to be a ‘thank you’, cause it didn’t sound like it.” The ghoul huffed before joining Lydia at her side. She crossed her arms and tilted her head as she looked at Shuu. “So, this is the general's nephew I heard so much about. Huh, looks like Midnight.” Shuu grunted and pushed himself up into a standing position and put a hand on the wall to keep himself upright. “Oh, look he’s still got some fight in him.”

“I suggest you stay down Shuu.” Shuu turned his gaze to Lydia, the one who had spoken. “You’re just delaying the inevitable.” At this Shuu gave hard laugh.

“You’re asking me to surrender, Lydia-san?” he cracked a small smile. “Surrendering is for the weak. If you want to take me you’re going to have to defeat me first.” The masked she-ghoul seemed to beam at this. Promptly uncrossing her arms to bring them in front of her in a fighting position.

“Oh, I’m going to have fun taking you down.” she said happily.

“Erin, don’t under estimate him.” Lydia said also getting into a fighting stance. Erin scoffed.

“Don’t think so little of me, Lydia.” Shuu looked between the two she-ghouls and felt his heart race. He knew he was weakened from the attack Erin delivered and couldn’t release his kagune. He felt his kakuhou healing, but he knew it wouldn’t heal in time. Well, he did say he was going to go down fighting and he planned to stick to his words. He reached one hand into his coat and gripped the handle of a dagger. This motion triggered Erin and he could see her lean back and prepare to jump him. He gripped the dagger tighter and prepared to fight with all his might.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Without warning there was a loud boom as the ghouls standing behind the two she-ghouls were suddenly sent flying in all directions by an unknown force. The two she-ghouls turned around only to be cut down by a large kagune that took the form of a barbed sword. As the two ghouls hit the ground Shuu was able to see who had saved him.

“Papa!” he cried happily as he saw his father. Mirumo seemed to have fought his way to his son as his hair was disheveled and his clothes had blood spatters on it. His glasses were missing showing his glowing kakugan as he glared down at the two she ghouls.

“How dare you come into my home and hurt my son.” He said his voice filled with anger. “You shall pay for your arrogance.” He attacked again, going to strike Erin who surprisingly had enough energy to jump and dodge the attack.

“You’re still alive?” she asked with true shock. The moment her feet touched the ground Mirumo rushed her. He thrusted his sword at her which she dodged by leaning to the side. “Hah, too slow old-“ her boasting sentence was cut off when he brought his sword back. He had angled it so when he brought it back the barbed end stabbed her through the back from behind.  She gave a startled gasp and couldn’t stop Mirumo from slamming her into the ground with a sickening crunch before flinging her off. He then spun around with his kagune raised to block Lydia’s kagune.

“You are making a mistake, Mirumo-san.” Lydia said.

“You made a mistake coming back to Tokyo.” Mirumo replied. He then kneed her in her still healing gut. She gave a horrid cough and stumbled back. He slammed his kagune into her side and sent her flying into the wall. The wall formed cracks to the force of the blow. Her kagune dissolved and she crumpled to the floor. “Filthy pigs.” He hissed under his breath.

“Papa?” the voice of his son caused him to turn around and let his kagune dissolve. The moment he turned around he almost fell over when his son crashed into him. Shuu had put his mask in his coat and hugged his father tightly. He buried his face in his father’s chest and cried out with tears falling down his face:

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry Papa! I didn’t mean to hurt you earlier. I was just upset and lashed out. I didn’t mean it at all. Please forgive me!” after he finished his apology he still continued to shed tears. He felt an arm warp around him and a hand stroke through his disheveled hair. He looked up at his father with violet eyes. His father down at with his brown eyes and Shuu was startled once he realized his father too was shedding tears.

“Of course, Papa forgives you. Papa’s sorry too. Papa shouldn’t have pushed you.”

“Non, it’s okay. You were just trying to help. I overreacted.” He hugged his father tighter. Taking in his warmth as much as he could. His father hugged back.

“Papa is so happy you’re okay. I thought I came too late.”

“Non, you came just in time.” Shuu’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered his goal. He pulled back from his father and looked him in the eyes. “We have to go now, Papa. Slade survived and has returned with more ghouls than I can imagine. Matsumae and Kanae went to hold him off, but they can’t hold him off for long. We have to go before he comes to get us.” His father seemed to process this slowly as he crossed his arms over his chest and one hand came up to massage the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and gave a sigh through his nose.

“So, the time has finally come.” He said under his breath.

“Papa, what are you talking about?” Shuu asked taking a step closer to his father. His father looked at him with a thoughtful gaze and said:

“You’re right we need to go, but Papa needs to show you something first.”

Before Shuu could reply his father grabbed his hand and led his running down the other hallway. He was dragged through the hallway by his father. He had no idea where he was going or what his father thought was so important that he needed to show him at a time like this. They made twists and turns and ran up a floor higher.

Shuu wasn’t surprised when they ran into enemy ghouls, but he didn’t have to worry. His father would promptly dispose of the ghoul. He would simply swipe his kagune in an arch and the ghouls would be cut down like wood. Shuu was astonished by his father’s fierceness and skill with his kagune. He never saw him like this. They, finally ran down a dead-end hallway and at the end of it was wooden door. The left wall had a row of windows and he could see it was pouring outside. The pounding of the rain almost drowned out the scream of servants as they tried to survive against the sudden enemy.

“Papa,” he said, “what do you need to show me?” His father turned his head to answer, but suddenly snapped his head to the right and his eyes widened. He suddenly came to a stop right before the wall exploded. Chunks of wall were sent flying everywhere and Mirumo put his body in front of Shuu to protect him. Through the dust a figure was thrown through the newly created hole and collided with the wall and crumpled to the floor. Shuu gasped in horror when he realized who it was.

“Matsumae!” it was indeed her, but she looked completely beat up. Her attire was torn and drenched in blood, cuts and bruises covered her body, but was most horrifying was that her left arm was missing; blood dripped out from the large wound. She was slumped over in a sitting position and wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing either. A malevolent chuckle turned his gaze back to the hole in the wall. His eyes widened as he saw his uncle strut into the hallway through the hole. He too was covered in blood, though Shuu doubted any of it was his own, his silver sword was formed and had evidence on it that it had sliced through flesh and bone. He looked at Shuu was a gleaming kakugan as he stood in front of Shuu and Mirumo. Mirumo stood protectively in front of his son and was prepared for anything.

“So, “brother” its been a while.” Slade said with bared teeth. “Thought that you could push me away and never hear from me again?”

“You don’t belong her, demon.” Was Mirumo’s fierce reply.

“Don’t belong here?” Slade asked putting a hand to his chest. “Dear “brother” I am a part of this family just as much as you are and just because you don’t believe that doesn’t mean it’s not a fact.”

“You might be my wife’s brother, but that doesn’t make us family and if she saw you now she would say the same.” At this Slade’s eyes narrowed threateningly, but as soon as they, they went back to normal and a smile formed on his face.

“You know Mirumo for a ghoul of your strength your words always seem to hurt the most and frankly that’s what I think makes you a weak family tie. This family deserves better than you. Shuu deserves better than you.” Shuu gripped his father tighter. “My “brother” have you forgotten what the ghouls used to call me while I was here. _Master Slade_.” He then leveled his sword at Mirumo and Shuu. “I will be called that again.” Slade then prepared to attack and Mirumo prepared to shield his son, however Slade never got the chance.

A sword had pierced his way through his chest and poked out. All the ghouls made a startled expression and looked to see who had stabbed Slade. A beaten and bloodied Matsumae stood behind him with her kakugan flaring and breathing heavily.

“Do not… turn your back on the Tsukiyama Knight. I’m not dead yet." Shehissed through her teeth

“You little snake.” He growled. As he went to confront Matsumae a javelin like projectile shot through the hole and stabbed him through his side. He grunted in anger and lashed out at her with a kick. She pulled her sword out of him and jumped back to avoid the attack. The next attack that came at Slade was a set of rinkaku tentacles that struck him in the side and sent him collided with the wall. Mirumo and Shuu took this chance to run past him and behind Matsumae. Kanae and Mairo came running through the hole in the wall both beaten and bloodied but continuing to fight. All three servants stood in front of their master ready to defend them to the end.

“Masters,” Matsumae said, “we’ll hold him off for as long as we can.” Slade grunted as he brought himself back up into a standing position.

“I’m impressed that you all are so loyal.” He said. “You all would have made great soldiers.”

“Come on Shuu.” Mirumo said as he opened the door and dragged his son inside. The room looked like a large storage room with multiple boxes carboard boxes. There was a single light at the center of the room giving some illumination. A window was on the left wall which also light up the room when lightning flashed. Mirumo went deeper into the room with Shuu close behind. Mirumo began looking at all the boxes. Pushing ones over to look at others before moving on to the next pile. While he searched the sound of battle sounded through the other side of the door. They didn’t have much time.

“Found it.” He said after searching through a pile. He pulled out a box and promptly tore it open. What Shuu saw made his eyes widen. The box was filled with clothes, tapes, and at the top was a diary book. Though what was special about the objects were they all had the same symbol: a purple rose. “This was your mother’s, Shuu.”  Shuu looked at his father august.

“Why show me this now?” he asked still in shock.

“Because,” Mirumo reached in and grabbed the diary which was black and had the picture of a purple rose at the center. He handed it to Shuu who held it close. “you’re going to need this for your journey without me.” Shuu felt his heart stop and his eyes shrink.

“What?” he said already feeling the tears coming.

“Shuu, please listen to me.” Mirumo said putting his hands on his son’s cheeks. “You have to-“

“No!” he was cut off by his son’s scream. “No, no, no! You can’t leave me alone Papa. I’m already going to lose everything else I can’t lose you to.” The tears began to flow again. His body shaking as he tried to keep himself from sobbing. A loud boom came from the other side of the door and Mirumo knew what was coming soon. “There has to be another way.” Shuu continued. “We’ll fight him together we’ll-“

“Shuu, I’m sorry, but you are the heir, you are my son. I’m willing to lie down my life for you.”

“But I’m not willing to let you go. Please, Papa.” Another loud boom followed by the sound of shattering wood. Shuu ignored it as he continued to stare into his father’s brown eyes. Mirumo smiled and said his final words to Shuu:

“Papa loves you.”

With that all Shuu could do was watch as his father pushed him and sent him flying out the window. Time seemed to slow down as he reached out a hand for his father. His fingertips grazed his father’s hand as he attempted to grab it but to no avail. He felt the cold raindrops hit him and before he knew it he was falling. The last he saw of his father was him turning to face his uncle. Shards of glass and water droplets fell with him, but he didn’t notice. He felt numb as he continued to fall. He didn’t feel the rush of air nor the fear of colliding with the ground. He still held his hand out as if he could still grab the window sill that was rapidly shrinking by the second. He didn’t feel his body collide with the wet ground.

* * *

Shuu had escaped. He had escaped death. He had escaped his abusive uncle. He had escaped from being captured. He had escaped and found sanctuary under a tree far from his home. The rain still poured down and the water slipped through the branches of the tree to land on his broken form. He sat on the wet ground hunched over. He was drenched, washing off most of the blood that had accumulated on his person and causing his bangs to droop down covering his eyes. He stared blankly at the ground as tears dropped off his nose to fall into the puddle that had formed. He had escaped… But at what cost. He lost his home, his wealth, his family. All in the course of a single night.

He had tried to make himself feel better. He had opened his mother’s diary and hunched over it to protect it from the rain. The first thing he had seen when he opened it was a picture that was tapped to the inside cover of the book with words underneath it that read: _Property of Carina Tsukiyama_. The picture was of his family when he was only a small boy. He stood proudly with a shining smile on his face and dressed up nicely with his hair done. His father stood behind him on to the right and had a hand on his shoulder. He was dressed in a formal suit and trademark glasses, but the glare was nonexistent revealing his brown eyes.

His mother stood to the left of him. She looked perfect. She was slender but had a well-built form. Her smooth pale skin shone where her clothing didn’t cover. She wore a long sleeved violet dress that hugged her form perfectly. She had a silver chain necklace around her neck that had a red rose as a charm. Her face was beautiful with violet eyes and smooth lips. Her hair was a bright violet that went to her shoulders and had a bang that was combed to the right. Similar to his own hairstyle. Seeing the picture of his mother had been what led him to stare at the ground.

He looked at his mother’s beautiful face then looked at his reflection in the puddle on the ground. He didn’t look like his mom. Where his mother’s face had not a single scratch, his own face had a large wound running down it. He didn’t know if he could call it a wound anymore though. No matter how hard he tried or how long he waited it wouldn’t go away. He thought he would be happy looking at the loved ones he lost. He thought he would have something to look to in his time of grief and anguish. But it was only a reminder of another thing his uncle took from him.

His uncle. He had thought that he had already defeated him. That he was spared from the torment and pain. But of course, the world didn’t work that way. It never did. He was an idiot for thinking that he could live a happy life. He felt an emotion boil up inside of him. Hate. He hated his uncle. He hated how he was useless in protecting his family. He hated how he lost everything and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He gripped the diary tighter as hate boiled into anger. He knew the emotion was anger, but it felt stronger than ever before.  He slammed the diary shut and stuffed it in his coat. His anger burned inside of him making his stomach twist and head spin. Then suddenly it began to hurt.  

 

_Another day alone,_

_Another night,_

_Another knife,_

_I guess I’m on my own,_

_The lights are on_

_My eyes are closed,_

_And no one understands,_

_The dark I’m dealing with,_

_And all the people in my life_

_Are way to blind to see the vice_

 

His insides began to burn, and his vison became blurry. He gripped his head and hissed in pain, closing his eyes tightly. He was losing his grip. Loosing his grip on his body as it began to change against his will. All his anger, hate, and despair were beating down his mind causing it to shatter and mold into something vile.

 

_All these scars,_

_All these scars,_

_From the war against ourselves,_

_The war against ourselves_

 

The fibers in his hair began to shift and change. His luminous violet hair got a shade paler. A thick streak of pure white ran down his left bang like a wave and a pitch-black streak followed suit on the right. His fingernails too changed color to a pitch-black. His back writhed, bubbling up as Rc cells threatened to break through. It hurt. Feeling his body distort and shift against his will was one of the most painful things he had experienced.

 

_All these scars,_

_All these scars,_

_I’m living in a hell,_

_It’s what is real_

 

He screamed as his back opened up with the sickening sound of flesh ripping open. He felt the released cells begin to solidify and take form around him. The pain stopped. He breathed heavily as his body shook, his kagune was pulsing around him. He knew it wasn’t his sword. He opened his eyes and stared down at his reflection in the puddle. He looked at it blankly as something clicked in his head.

 

_They break me down,_

_I can’t block the sound,_

_So, I turn to the one thing,_

_I know will not let me down_

 

He was going to get revenge. Revenge for everything his uncle did to him and his family. How? Well it was simple. He was going to devour him. He was going to eat him up until nothing remained of the demon. But by going on this path would be going against what he had vowed to Kaneki. Then again, the answer was simple. Kaneki was not to be followed. He was to be treasured and kept as a prize for his own victory. And he would kill anyone who got in his way.

 

_People don’t think to ask what’s wrong,_

_I stop and go to the beat,_

_Of the broken flow in blood_

 

He felt the corners of his mouth pull up into a wicked smile, the scar on his face stretching. It was quiet at first, barely audible over the sound of the rain. It then quickly grew louder as he began to cackle. He shook as he laughed. He laughed at how he was going to get his revenge and his prize all in one go. It was all too perfect. His laughter subsided, and he let out a heavy sigh. But before he could get his revenge, he had to make sure his prize was safe, and he knew just where to go to find him.

 

_All these scars,_

_All these scars,_

_From the war against myself,_

_I’m a walking hell,_

_I won’t starve myself of the dark,_

_Listen to me scream and shout,_

_But do not say a word_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: The War Against Ourselves - Joel Faviere


	3. A Day at Anteiku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

Touka gaped in awe at the creature that was in front of her. It had giant wings that had the colors of spring. Shades of yellow, blue, and purple were swirled together to create a colorful picture that could have been painted by a creative artist. The creature’s small black body was hidden beneath it’s massive wings, but it’s head with large black eyes stood out against mass of color.

Touka got a step closer to the butterfly that was perched upon a bright yellow flower. She watched with fascination as it fed upon the flower’s nectar. Her brother stood next to her with the same beaming interest in his eyes. They were visiting a public park that was filled with beautiful flower bushes and many other plants. Their small forms were hunched over one of the massive flower bushes as they observed the insect.

“It’s so colorful!” Ayato said with amazement. “I’ve never seen one this big, Touka. Have you?” At his question Touka rolled her eyes.

“Of course, I have.” Was her instant reply. He looked at her with lowered eyebrows and a frown.

“Oh, really when?” he asked still holding his expression. Touka looked at her brother with a scowl.

“Well, that one time I …”  she couldn’t finish her sentence as she tried to remember when she saw a butterfly as big and beautiful as the one in front of her. She couldn’t think of any. She put a hand to her chin as she mumbled out the rest of her sentence.

“Hah, you haven’t had you?!” he exclaimed pointing an accusing finger at her.

“No!” she shouted turning more of her body to face her brother; causing her purple dress to whirl. “I just can’t remember it was a long time ago.”

“No, that’s not it.” He too turned to face his sister. “You’re just making it up.”

“No, I’m not!” she stomped her foot and her hands balled into fists as she screamed.

“Yes, you are!” he retorted with the same vitality as his sister. Without warning a flash of color flew in between them. They stared in shock as they saw the butterfly fly high into the sky, it wasn’t long before it disappeared into the blue sky.

“Oh, now look you scared it off!” Touka shouted.

“No, I didn’t you did!” They, butted heads as they got in each other faces and bared their teeth.

“Hey that’s enough you two!”  The moment they heard the loud voice they immediately turned to look up at the man who had spoken. Their father stood in front of them. His dark blue eyes glaring down on them. “There’s no need to fight with each other.”

“But-“ Touka and Ayato spoke at the same time.

“No, buts. It’s not right to pick a fight over such a little thing.” As his children’s gaze downcast he bent down to their height. “Look, how about this.” His voice lost its harsh tone and became soft. “Why don’t both of you go and find your own separate flowers in the garden and bring them back here. We can try to lure an even bigger butterfly than before with them.” At this both of his children lit up. Smiles replacing their frowns and their eyes were big. “But only two each.” Their father added. “We’re not supposed to take more than that. Now off you go.”

He stood back up as he watched his children scamper off further into the garden, a smile also adorning his face. Touka went a different direction than her brother and slowed down to a walk to take a closer look at all the flowers that were on either side of her. She felt like she was in a wonderland being surrounded by all the colorful flowers.

She first looked at a couple of bushes that held bright blue flowers with a white dot on each petal. She inspected it closely and didn’t find any attraction towards the flower and moved on. She then came across a pure white rose that gleamed in the sunlight. Her small hands gripped the bottom of the biggest rose she saw and plucked it off from the bush. She held it close to her chest and continued to move forward.

Her shoes smacking against the stone walk way as she strolled down it. Though as she turned a bend the sound of something crunching under her feat caused her to stop. She looked down at her feet and gave a confused look when she realized that she had stepped on a red rose. She looked further down the path and saw that it was littered with red roses. The roses looked abused and crumpled as if someone had angrily torn them apart. The bushes that once held the roses were almost completely bare and were missing leaves. She followed the trail of carnage to the culprit who had caused it. Near the end of the path was a boy that appeared to be much older as he was taller than her. Since he was standing in profile it was hard to get a clear view of the boy.

He wore a long-sleeved dark violet coat that was long and went passed his finger tips to his knees. It looked like it was made out of a soft material he also wore matching colored pants. His dress shoes were black, and the silver buckles shined. This was odd to her since it was a rather hot day. Underneath his jacket he wore a white button up shirt with a violet tie. His hair short and was a rather interesting color. It was violet, and his left bang went all the down to his chin blocking his face from her view.

He was forcefully pulling the roses of their bush and examining them. He ran his paled skinned fingers over the flower’s petals before mumbling something she didn’t quite hear, but she could tell that there was anger in his voice. He then crushed the rose in his hand and threw it on the ground as if it were trash. He then moved on to the next rose to repeat the cycle. Touka was absolutely stunned by what she saw. She watched as he defiled the garden without a care in the world not thinking about the precious flowers. She felt anger boil inside of her as the boy continued to destroy the garden. She growled and stomped towards the boy with rage in her eyes. She had a death grip on the flower in her hands as she shouted.

“What do you think you’re doing, you...” her sentence died, and she stopped right in front of him as the boy picked one last flower and turned to face her.

She felt her breath catch in her throat and her purple eyes widen. The boy didn’t really look like a boy at all. His face held youth, but he looked like he was in his teens. His skin was pale and was completely smooth without acne or any bumps. He looked like he had been blessed by the gods as he looked extremely handsome for someone his age. Though what caught her attention were his eyes. They were a luminous violet like his hair, but they held a glimmer that his hair could not ever obtain. And even though his left bang covered some of his left eye there was still enough violet for her to be memorized.

The sun couldn’t have been in a better position. It was right behind him causing the scenery behind him to turn into pure sunlight giving him an even more stunning appearance. She felt a strange sensation bubble up in her belly that tickled her insides, and her cheeks gained a light shade of red as if she had makeup on. She felt the flower that was once in her iron grip fall to the ground as she lost the feeling in her body. Though, what put her off slightly was the way he was looking at her. He clutched the red rose to his chest as he looked down at the girl that had just approached him with a scornful gaze.

“Are you going to finish your sentence or are you just going to stare at me like a deer in headlights.” his voice matched his looks. Being smooth and ear pleasing, but even with those traits she could feel the anger in his words. His words caught her completely off guard and she blinked a couple of times coming back to reality.

“I-I came here to ask you, why are you destroying the rose bushes.” She hated how her voice was shaky and she twiddled her small thumbs. He scoffed at her response.

“Why do you care?” he retorted crushing the rose in his hand and throwing it on the ground. She was dumbfounded by the other’s behavior. She felt the anger that had subsided in her rise up again.

“I care because what you are doing isn’t right. You’re not allowed to destroy the park property. You could get arrested, and then you’ll be in big trouble.” The boy rolled his violet eyes and turned back towards the rose bush.

“Like the police will be able to do anything to me.” He grumbled under his breath and plucked another rose from the bush.

“What did the roses do to you anyway?” She questioned throwing her hands in the air. He examined the rose in his hand with narrowed violet eyes as if he was scrutinizing the rose for any damage.

“They’re wrong.” He said simply still staring at the rose. She raised an eyebrow at this.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked with true curiosity. The rose looked fine to her, beautiful even. He was silent for a moment giving her a quick glace before looking back at the rose. He gave a gruff sigh before saying:

“They’re not perfect. They all have a certain flaw or flaws that make them imperfect. They have too many or too little petals, they’re too big or too small, they don’t have sharp enough thorns that can poke into a human’s flesh, or they’re just plan ugly to look at.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” she asked, her head tilting to the side slightly.

“Yes. Yes, it is. The world works in such a way that only the perfect and strong are on top while the imperfect and weak are at the bottom. The perfect get to have all the goods in the world and live long happy lives without the fear of falling from their perch. While the imperfect gets the bare minimum, the scraps, and their lives are hell, since they’re at the bottom they get trampled by the perfect and it’s long before…” he crushed the rose in his hand and let the red petals of the deceased rose flutter to the ground. “They get crushed by they’re own failure. I’m just here to try and figure out how many perfects there are in a bush of imperfects.”

She stared at the boy in front of her with a look of shock as he turned back to the bush and began to examine the roses once more. She never would have thought a boy like him would think of such things. She felt another feeling rise up in her. It wasn’t nervousness. It wasn’t anger. She believed it was something akin to pity. She frowned, and she stared at the ground. Her eyes lit up once she saw the white rose she had dropped on the ground. Without thinking she immediately picked up the rose and held it up to the boy.

“W-What about this one?” she asked her voice quivering once again. “Will this one make you feel better?” he turned to her and his expression surprised her. He looked utterly confused. He stared at the rose in her hands as if it was completely alien to him. He then looked her in the eyes and said:

“Why would you give this to me?” he sounded genuinely confused.

“Because you look imperfect with that frown on your face. I want to help make you perfect.” She had said what came to her mind without thinking things through and she felt her cheeks heat up again. He grabbed the flower in her hands and put it under his scrutinizing gaze. She felt her palms become sweaty as she expected him to crush it at any moment. Then he surprised her once again. He smiled. His soft lips pulled up into a small smile that quickly grew. She felt her heart race at his smile and she felt herself too smile. Then he began to laugh. This startled her as his laugh grew into a crackle. His shoulders bounced, and he hunched over. Though most laughs sounded annoying his sounded harmonious.

“Is everything alright?” she asked nervously. He finally stopped laughing, straightening himself up and letting out a sigh.

“Oh, little ghoul you have no idea who you’re talking to do you?” she was completely taken off guard when the boy called her a ghoul. It didn’t take long for her to put two and two together. Her thoughts were confirmed when his kakugan activated and his eyes changed to those of a ghoul. His sclera filled with a black hue and his irises became a sickly crimson, dark cracks came out the corner of his eyes and marked his pale skin. She gasped and took a step back as the color faded from her face. He took a step towards her and leaned down to be eye level with her, he twirled the rose in his fingers. His piercing gaze was on her as he ran his tongue over a white tooth.

A shadow descended above her and before she knew it she was yanked away from the boy ghoul and in front of her stood her father. The boy looked just as shocked taking a few steps backwards, his kakugan disappeared instantly. She looked up at her father and never before had she’d seen such a fierce look in his blue eyes.

“What are you doing with my daughter?!” he questioned the boy, anger vibrating in his voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He instantly replied putting his hands together and bowing before the father. “I didn’t realize that she was your daughter, Kirishima-san.” He got up from his bowed position. Her father’s eyes narrowed.

“How do you know my name boy?” he asked taking a threateningly step closer towards the boy. The boy took a step backwards instinctively.

“Hey, no need to be so upset.” The new voice that had sounded came from behind the violet haired boy. From the other end of the pathway a new ghoul emerged. He wore a black suit with a red tie that looked neatly pressed. He had royal purple hair that was neatly combed and had was slightly shorter than the boy’s, he also had matching colored eyes. He gave a stunning smile as he strode up towards the other ghouls. Touka looked up at her father and his expression was of complete shock.

“Slade.” He said breathlessly. Slade stopped behind the boy and put his hands on his hips.

“Long time, no see Arata-kun.”

“But, how, why?” Arata asked still in shock.

“Oh, Arata-kun don’t look so surprised. I moved to Tokyo a long time ago. I would have contacted you if I knew where you were. As for the why am I here after… my sister passed away I came to help her son and my other family recover.” Arata gave him a menacing glare. “Please don’t look at me like that. I’m a changed ghoul.” He placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “See here is my precious nephew.” Touka came out from behind Arata’s leg to look at the other ghouls in front of them. The boy wasn’t looking at her and instead had his gaze down at the flower in his hands. The sound of the two adults talking faded out as she continued to stare at the boy. His smile was completely gone, and he seemed stiff under the older ghoul’s grip. He looked so defeated and sad she felt pity rise in her again. Then suddenly she saw Slade’s grip on the boy intensify to the point where the fabric was beginning to have indents. The boy’s head shot up and he looked up at attention.

“Go on now and properly introduce yourself to her.” Slade said his tone not carrying any malice or anger though he seemed to have a death grip on the boy’s shoulder. The boy gave a sharp nod and Slade let go of his shoulder. The boy took a step towards her and held out the hand that didn’t have the rose. He said:

“Hello, my name is Shuu Tsukiyama. May I know your name?” she was surprised at his sudden politeness and she took his hand for a handshake. She felt a shiver run down her body as she gripped Shuu’s warm hand. She smiled and said:

“My name’s Touka Kirishima.” She once again felt her cheeks heat up and her stomach do flips as she stared into the violet eyes of Shuu.

* * *

The first thing that greeted Touka from sleep was the stream of sunlight that shone through the crack in her curtains. She squinted her eyes as the light assaulted them then groaned and rolled over in her bed to spare her eyes from the sun’s bright rays. Her dark purple hair was spread over her pillow and stuck to her face. Another night had passed faster than she had expected, and she felt herself wanting to drift back to sleep, but she knew that she had work that she needed to do and fought against the lull of sleep. She gave a quite groan as she sat up. She glanced at the clock to see what time it was.

The electric clock read _5:47_. It was a little earlier than when she usually woke up, but her body wanted to wake up at this time, so she was going to obey its command and get ready for work earlier. It also, meant that she got to use the bathroom first. She ran her hands through her messy hair putting a few strands back into place. She swung her body to the side and there was a light smack as her bare feet landed on the wooden floor. She then stood up and the bed creak as her weight suddenly came off it. She stretched, small pops coming from her body as she stretched her stiff body.

Her feet lightly tapped against the wooden floor as she walked to her dresser for her work outfit. She opened the draw and promptly grabbed her attire from. Though as she grabbed her outfit from the back of the draw a glare caught her attention. She paused and stared at the glare in the drawer. She placed the folded outfit onto her bed before reaching in the drawer and grabbing the object in the drawer. She pulled out a small rectangular picture with a brown wooden frame.

Though the wooden frame looked shiny and brand new the picture inside looked faded and old. In the dark room with only a few streaks of sunlight the picture would have been impossible to see, but she didn’t need to see it to know what the picture was. She ran her warm fingers over the cold glass before bringing it to her face and planting a small kiss on the glass. She brought it back down and looked at the picture with shimmering purple eyes.

“Another morning, foodie. Let’s hope today will be a better day, for the both of us.” After she finished speaking she put the framed picture back in her dresser and closed the drawer.

It didn’t take long for Touka to get cleaned and dressed. As soon as she had put on her last article of clothing and looked herself over and began walking down the hall to the stairs. She looked at all of the doors that she past and wondered if the other café employees had gotten up already. The building was completely silent, her heeled footsteps were the only sound that reached her ears. She walked down the stairs to the café where she was met with a surprise. The room lights had not been turned on and the curtains were shut making the café look dead. Maybe she had gotten up a little too early, none the less she still had a job to do. She was just getting a head start.

The first thing she did was open the curtains and let the rays from the rising sun filter through the window and brighten up the café. She looked out the window and at the beautiful early morning and felt a very small smile curve her lips. Next, she turned off the room lights, completely waking up the café from its night sleep. She then went behind the counter and made sure everything was in order. Seeing the washed dishes in their proper place and the coffee beans were ready to be created into to coffee, she walked to the dining area and made sure each table and booth was ready to hold customers as they enjoyed their coffee and food.

After checking all the tables, she looked at the time. It was a little before opening time, but if anyone came in she would be sure to serve them. She found the keys to the entrance door and walked to it. The bell on the door jingled as she opened it. She felt the cool rush of the winter air from outside and flipped the sign from ‘closed’ to ‘open’. She then closed the door and went back behind the counter. Having nothing else to do she grabbed a rag and began rubbing it across the same spot on the bar counter. She stared down at the bar top as she continued to scrub it, seeing her reflection every time her hand went to the right or left. In her reflection she couldn’t help but imagine a being standing behind her.

It wasn’t very difficult for her to picture the body and what they were doing. She could sense their presence, hear their soft breathing, and feel their warmth of their body. Though she only saw herself in her reflection she could give a face to the person behind her. Their arms wrapped around her waist and she felt a tingle rise in her chest. She leaned back slightly as if to lean into the presence’s warmth. She continued to look down at the counter and could see the locks of purple drop over her shoulder as the person’s face leaned in close to hers. She could feel their warm breath as their soft lips grazed her cheek.

“Good morning, Touka-chan.” The voice of someone else startled her and she turned to yell at whoever had spoken. She stopped in her tracks when she saw who it was.

“Oh, Yoshimura-san it’s you.” She said surprised. The elder man gave a small nod of his head and said:

“My apologies if I startled you.”

“No, its okay.” She shook her head, then turned back to the counter. The cloth was still in her grasp.

“Touka-chan are you alright?” he asked. She turned her head to look at him.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because when I came in here you were wiping the counter so roughly that you damaged it.” He gestured to the counter top. She looked down and saw the small indent she made in the counter and grimaced. She then realized the cloth she had used to wipe the counter had a large hole.

“I’m so sorry.” She apologized and then promptly tossed the torn cloth in the trash can. “I shouldn’t have been…” unable to finish her sentence she shut her mouth and looked down at the counter, letting her bangs fall forward to cover her eyes. She heard the manger’s footsteps as he came towards her. She was grateful that her hair was blocking her eyes, so she didn’t have to look at him. She felt a warm hand place itself on her shoulder and heard the calm voice of Yoshimura as he spoke.

“Touka-chan I know you miss him. We all do, but you shouldn’t let his absence-“

“I wasn’t thinking about Kaneki.” She abruptly interrupted him. He was taken aback by this, but he didn’t show it. “Yes, I wish he hadn’t have left, but he isn’t on my mind right now.”

“Well then who were you thinking about?” she continued to glare down at the counter with hard eyes. She tried to see if there was anyone else in her reflection. There wasn’t.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” She said solemnly. “I shouldn’t be thinking about them anyway.” She placed a hand over her reflection on the counter and looked away. He paused for a moment as he processed what Touka had said. It only took a moment to put the pieces together of who she was thinking about.

“Look,” he said in the kindness voice he could muster, “I don’t want to push you about it, but…” he took in a deep breath, thinking of what words he should use.

Before he could think of anything to say the bell at the café entrance gave a small jingle. They both turned their heads to see who was at the door. The door wasn’t open all the way and someone’s head was sticking through the small opening to look inside the café. It was a young woman presumably in her late teens or early twenties. She had long raven black hair that was tied in a side ponytail on the left side that rested on her shoulder. Her left bang covered her forehead and her left eye as it was pulled to the side in the ponytail. Her only visible eye was a periwinkle blue which matched her light skin tone. She looked and saw Touka and Yoshimura behind the counter.

“Oh, are you guys open?” The stranger asked, her voice soft yet strong. “I saw the open sign on the door, but you guys don’t open this early, so I was confused.”

“Oh, yes were open.” Yoshimura said giving a welcoming smile. “Please do come in.” he took a step away from Touka and stood up straighter.

Touka also stood up straight and fixed her hair. The women at the door open it fully and the bell jingled again. She walked inside and Touka saw the rest of her. She was dressed in a long-sleeved dress like shirt that had a black torso that hugged her slim form and a white lower half that went to her upper thigh. She wore grey leggings and black ankle boots that fit her nicely. Though what surprised Touka the most about the women’s appearance was that on her left hand she saw what had to be swirl lines that matched the color of her eyes. Shee also saw them on the left side of her neck and they trailed up until her skin was blocked by her hair. Touka could only discern the markings as tattoos.

The women smiled brightly as she made her way to the bar counter and sat on a seat right in front of Touka. Now closer Touka could smell the scent of ghoul coming off the women and figured Yoshimura could too. But even though she had the scent of a ghoul there was something off about it, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She gave a friendly smile and grabbed a notepad and pencil. She raised the pencil above the paper.

“Good morning ma’am, may I take your order?” she asked kindly. Yoshimura smiled at Touka before turning and leaving the café to go to his office. The women smiled back at Touka before saying:

“Yes, thank you. I would like a regular coffee with…” she paused for a moment and Touka took this time to write down the she-ghoul’s order. The she-ghoul then rubbed her stomach with her right hand as if she was hungry. Was she hungry? “With a sandwich please.” She froze as she heard the she-ghouls next order. Did she hear here correctly?

“A sandwich?” Touka repeated confused. The she-ghoul nodded her head.

“A sandwich please.” The she-ghoul clarified.

“Are you sure?” Touka asked still confused.

“Yes, I’m sure. I skipped breakfast today I need something to eat.” Touka was even more confused at this point. Did the she-ghoul not know it was a ghoul friendly café and was trying to blend in? She wanted to tell the ghoul that it was okay that she didn’t need to blend in, but she was intrigued and wanted to see how this would go.

“Okay ma’am.” Touka said as she wrote down the she-ghoul’s order. “So, is that all for you?”

“Yes, but when you make the sandwich can you please take out the meat and keep everything else.” Touka nodded and said:

“I’ll get that right for you.”

“Thank you…” the she-ghoul looked at Touka’s nametag and said: “Kirishimma-san.”

“Your welcome…” Touka let the sentence hang.

“Angel Lawrence, but you can just call me Angel.” Touka nodded and turned to make Angel’s order. As she prepared the coffee she glanced between her strands of purple hair to look at Angel. The ghoul customer wasn’t seeming to do anything besides looking around at the décor of the café. Touka turned back to her work.

“So, how long have you been working here?” Angle’s voice broke the silence as she spoke. Continuing to work Touka spoke:

“Honestly, I’ve been here for so many years that I stopped counting.”

“Oh, wow you must have been young when you started working here.” Touka nodded as she poured the steaming coffee into a glass mug. She placed the hot beverage in front of Angel who thanked her. When Touka began making the sandwich was when Angel spoke again.

“Do you enjoy working here? I know you’ve been here for years but is it because of money or because you like it here.”

“I do enjoy working here. It’s like home to me.” At this Angel gave a small tilt of her head.

“It’s that great here.” As Touka nodded Angel raised the hot coffee to her lips. Her eyes widened, and she made a pleased sound. She lowered the cup and looked at Touka with astonishment. “Wow this is really good. To be honest I thought it wasn’t going to taste that good since I normally don’t drink coffee.” Touka gave another glance up at Angel trying to hide the confusion in her face. She finished making the sandwich and after she plated it she placed it in front of Angel. Angel looked down at the food with a hum before picking it up.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Touka said as Angel prepared to take bite of her sandwich, “why would you come to a café if you don’t normally drink coffee.”

The moment she finished speaking Angel took a big bite out of her sandwich and to Touka’s amazement began to chew it. It wasn’t fake chewing like she did; where she would swallow it whole and mimic the motions of chewing. No, this ghoul was actually chewing it. She could tell by the sound of the sandwich being crunched by the ghoul’s teeth. What was more Angel seemed to be enjoying it. She had the expression she saw humans have when they eat food and when a ghoul eats. Touka stared wide-eyed as Angel swallowed the food with a pleased look and then looked at the teen ghoul across from her with a smile.

There was a loud boom as Touka lost any poise of an employee of Anteiku and slammed her hands on the counter top. The mug of coffee jumped, and the glass plate shook. Angel flinched back nearly loosing her grip on her food and she had a frightened expression on her face. Touka leaned over the counter with narrowed eyes and shouted:

“Who are you?” At this Angel’s expression of fear turned to confusion.

“I told you already. I’m Angel L-“

“No!” Touka abruptly interrupted her. “You’re eating human food like your enjoying it.” Angel looked down at the sandwich then back up at Touka.

“Is that a bad thing? I thought when ghouls ate human food in public they pretend to enjoy it.”

“They do!” Touka gave an angered sigh. “It’s just that when you do it it’s…” When Touka saw that Angel was not getting what she was saying she gave another loud groan. “That’s not the point. Why are you here anyway?” Angel straightened her posture and placed her sandwich back on her plate.

“Because I wanted to ask for a job here.” Touka’s eye twitched.

“What?!” she shouted. The door to the back of Anteiku opened and Yoshimura stepped into the café with a worried expression.

“Touka-chan is there something wrong?” he asked. Touka turned to the manager and said:

“Yes, there is. She wants a job here.” She pointed an accusing finger at Angel who looked frightened. His demeanor changed from worried to serious in an instant; his eyebrows lowered, and his wrinkles became more prominent.

“Touka-chan there is no reason for you to act so rudely to a fellow ghoul like her.” He gestured to Angel. “There is no problem if she wants to work here.”

“But,” Touka tried to protest, but was silenced when he raised his hand.

“Enough, we can settle any misgivings later.” He then turned to Angel with a more kind and gentle manner.

“I apologize miss if you haven’t been greeted in the friendliest way.” He nodded towards Touka. “Touka-chan apologize.” Touka gave an annoyed look but judging by the way he was looking at her it wasn’t the time for her to argue. She begrudgingly turned to Angel and did her best not to scowl as she looked into Angel’s blue eyes.

“I apologize for my behavior towards you.” She said in a low voice. Angel brightened up at this and gave Touka a stunning smile.

“No worries. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“No, it’s fine.” Touka replied. Yoshimura gave a small nod at his female employee before looking back at Angel.

“So, you would like a job here at Anteiku?” Angel gave a nod at his question. He smiled and gestured towards the door he had entered through.

“Come, I would like to talk to you before anything else.” As he walked towards the door Angel hopped off from her seat and followed him with Touka not far behind. It was a short trip to the lounge room and once inside Yoshimura sat in the one-seater, Touka took her spot on the couch to the left while Angel sat on the other. Angel crossed her legs and twiddled her thumbs nervously as she waited for the manager to speak. Touka had her arms crossed and glared at the ghoul across from her.

“Let’s start.” Yoshimura said looked at Angel. “May I have your name and age?”

“Oh yes.” Angel stopped playing with her hands and let them rest in her lap. “My name is Angel Lawrence and I am 19 years-old.”

“So, Angel why do you want to work here? Do you need anything like food or shelter?”

“Oh no, I don’t need anything from you.” This surprised both Touka and Yoshimura.

“Then why do you want to work here?” Touka questioned sternly.

“Well, you see I heard of Anteiku and all that you do to help ghouls in need and… I want to help you all take care of ghouls in need.” He gave a relieved look at Angel’s answer while Touka still looked angered.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Touka said with narrowed eyes. “Why would you want to do that? Not any ghoul just comes here wanting to help others.”

“I know it might seem strange and out of nowhere but that’s the problem.” Touka raised an eyebrow at this. Angel continued. “Most ghouls aren’t willing or don’t care about helping one another and that’s what’s wrong. It’s almost instinct for most ghouls to stick out only for themselves and I can’t blame them. It’s a tough world for us ghouls, but we need to start helping each other and stop fighting each other and that’s what you do here at Anteiku. By being peaceful and showing a helping hand you can encourage others to help as well. That is why I want to join Anteiku.” Touka stared at Angel in shock. Her tense form softened, and she couldn’t find any words to combat Angel’s own. Yoshimura smiled at seeing such a kind-hearted ghoul.

“I’m grateful that ghouls like you exist.” Was all he could say. “I’m joyed that you will be joining our crew. Touka-chan,” he turned to Touka who had snapped out of her trance and looked at him. “Please find Angel-chan a uniform and you’ll be watching over her for the day.”

“Me?” she gestured to herself and gave a surprised look.

“Yes, you. You need to work on getting along with others.” She sighed and stood up.

“Follow me Angel-chan.” She didn’t wait for Angel to respond, immediately leaving the room. She heard Angel follow her from behind as she walked to get her an outfit. She rummaged through the storage room to see if they had a female waitress outfit. As she rummaged through the room she could sense Angel was staring at her and through her periphery she could tell the other was staring at her uncovered eye. She did her best to ignore it, but by the time she had gotten her hands on an outfit she couldn’t stand it. She gripped the outfit tightly and shot up to glare at Angel.

“What the hell are you staring at?!” she asked loudly. Angel didn’t seem as taken aback as she did when Touka had yelled at her at the first time. Instead she nervously rubbed her tattooed arm and said:

“I’m sorry it’s just that I’ve never seen eyes like yours before.” She smiled. “They’re beautiful.” Touka was once again left speechless by the other female ghoul. She felt her face heat up and she looked down to hide her embarrassed face. She grumbled and tossed the clothes at Angel.

“Here take these and get dressed.” Angel barely caught the clothes and held them tightly to her chest. “You have a long day ahead of you.”

* * *

After Angel had put outfit on it didn’t take long before the rest of the Anteiku staff came and the café began to fill with customers. Though Touka noticed that in the waitress outfit Angel’s tattoos continued up her arm before her skin was covered by the elbow long sleeves. She wondered how much of the others body was covered in tattoos, though she had no time to ponder how far the tattoos went as she was swept up in taking the orders of customers.

From the corner of her eye she could see Angel taking orders like a natural. Having polite manners and doing it with a beautiful smile. She could see it was not only her appearance that was likeable, but her personality. She was kind and caring and acted as if she was working at the happiest place on earth. She didn’t only win over the customers, but the other employees as well. They seemed to welcome her with open arms just as Yoshimura had. Irimi and Koma had simply smiled at her and gave a warm welcoming. Roma had introduced herself to Angel before shaking her hand. And Nishiki, after hanging around her for a while made a joke that she was like the original Kaneki before patting her on the back. Angel had been confused but smiled none the less.

Touka didn’t exactly know why, but when ever she saw the new recruit she felt her insides boil in anger and annoyance. It was hard for her to keep a calm demeanor when a couple tables away Angel’s heavenly voice reached her ears. She wondered if she envied the other because of her sudden rise to popularity and was welcomed by everyone. Then she realized she didn’t care if she was popular or not, she actually preferred to be under the radar and not the center of attention. Though as she continued to think about it she recalled when Nishiki had said that Angel was similar Kaneki.

Something clicked in her head after that thought. Did she dislike Angel because she was like Kaneki before Aogiri came and ruined everything? As she began to think about it further she realized that Angel bothered her because she was too much like Kaneki. It was as if she was a replacement for Kaneki. That is what bothered her. It was like people didn’t even care that Kaneki was gone. Then again, did she really feel sad that Kaneki was gone. If anything, she felt anger that Kaneki had gone up and left them. She knew he had reasons but still. She quickly came to the conclusion that if Angel was going to be the replacement Kaneki then she was going to treat her how she had treated Kaneki in the beginning. Though Angel didn’t seem to mind her rash attitude. Besides Touka’s negative feelings towards Angel the day was going farely well or it was until…

* * *

Touka’s fists were at her sides as she kept her anger at bay. The coffee was stained over her chest area turning the fabric to turn a deep brown and causing it to stick to her skin. She could hear Angel apologizing fiercely, worry lacing her voice. Though Touka couldn’t see Angel’s expression due to her eyes being closed and her head down she could guess that Angel had a look of complete horror. She gave a growl, which stopped Angel from apologizing, and said through closed teeth:

“Just get me another set of clothes.” Her voice was low as she looked up at Angel; her single uncovered eye glaring dangerously. “They’re in my room. Now go!” she shouted and not a moment later Angel was running through the back door to get Touka fresh clothes. Touka gave a tired sigh once Angel left the room and sat at the bar counter. She was grateful that Anteiku was empty. Angel and herself had been had on break and Angel had made herself coffee to drink. She didn’t know exactly how Angel bumped into her, but she did which sent the steaming drink all over her.

She was also grateful that the other Antekiu employees were in the back so, she didn’t have to talk to anybody or deal with Nishiki. She rested her head on her hand as she waited for Angel to come back with her clothes. She waited and waited. Without looking at the clock she could tell that Angel was taking too long. She groaned and got up from her seat to march up the stairs to her room. Once she got in the hallway she noticed her door was open. She increased in her speed and turned into her room. She saw Angel standing in front of her dresser with the drawer open and she was looking at something that was held in her hands. Touka growled and yelled:

“What do you think you’re doing!” Angel jumped back giving a squeal as the object in her hands was sent flying. Touka’s eyes widened as she saw the object that was falling to the ground. She couldn’t remember the last time she had moved so fast as she dove for the object. Her hands grasped around the picture before it could make contact with the tile floor as she crouched low to the ground. She scanned over the picture and was relieved that nothing was wrong with it. Her relief quickly turned to anger as she glared up at a frightened Angel.

“Do you realize what you could have done?” she asked dangerously as she rose to her feet. Angel raised her hands up defensively.

“Touka-chan I’m so-“

“Stop apologizing!” Touka interrupted her angrily. “You being here is already a pain in my ass, but now you do this.” She gripped the picture tighter and walked towards Angel. Angel walked backwards as Touka continued to rant.

“Do you think that because you’re such a “righteous” ghoul that you can do whatever you want without consequence? Will you listen here Angel, just because you portray yourself as a good ghoul doesn’t mean you are? You may have gotten on everyone’s good side with your goodwill bullcrap, but I can tell that you are a pathetic joke.” She was standing at the exit to her room with Angel standing outside of it. Angel looked at Touka’s enraged expression and her own become one of deep regret.

“I’m sorry.” She said in a quiet voice. “Was the person in that picture important to you?” Touka’s eye twitched.

“You’re so clueless!” she felt her eyes begin to burn with on coming tears as old memories flashed in her head. She reached out and gripped the door so tightly the wood began to break. “Just go Angel or I will freaking kill you!” She screamed so loudly that she bet everyone in Anteiku heard her. She then slammed the door shut with a loud boom. She sighed and rested her head on the door as she heard Angel’s footsteps run down the hall. She looked down at the picture in her grasp as small drops of tears landed on the glass.

* * *

Touka sat on her bed as she watched the rain drops collide with her window. She hadn’t left her room after she had yelled at Angel. Instead she had changed her clothes into something more comfortable and turned off all the lights. She had then sat on her bed, picture in hand, and watched the outside world through her window. No one had come to talk to her and she was grateful for that. It allowed her to try and calm down while watching the grey clouds rush over the setting sun. She watched the heavy rain with pink eyes and dried tears on her face. The picture was held close to her chest as she breathed in and out.

She didn’t want to think about anything so, she focused solely on the multitude of raindrops as they trailed down the glass. She hadn’t looked at her clock, but she knew that the sun wasn’t up anymore even with the dark clouds filling the sky. She barley saw any people besides the few stragglers that had been caught up in the rain.

The calm sound of the rain was disturbed when a knock came from the door. She turned around and yelled:

“Go away!” there was silence for a moment.

“It’s Yomo, Touka-chan.” She was surprised to hear Yomo’s voice come from behind the door. She gave a soft sigh before turning back to her window.

“Come in.” she said. She heard the door open and light flooded the room. She heard footsteps and the door closing causing the room to be plunged back into darkness. She didn’t turn around as Yomo approached her from behind. She brought her knees up and laid the picture on her thighs. Her back hunched causing the picture to be blackened out by her shadow. She felt the bed shift and a warm hand place itself on her shoulder. This caused her to stiffen up.

“Yoshimura-san told me what happened.” Yomo said in his calm deep voice. “Is everything alright with you?” She didn’t answer his question at first. There was a long silence before she finally said:

“I don’t know is it?” she hadn’t meant for her words to sound aggressive, but it did. He didn’t seem to take it personally as he took his hand off her shoulder and adjusted himself. Through her bang she could his black trench coat beside her.

“I know that you are going through somethings.” he said, “With the situation you’re in I can see why you act the way you do.” He glanced down at the picture that was in Touka’s lap. Though he couldn’t see the picture in the frame he knew what it was. “You’ve lost a lot and I believe getting to know Angel better will help you.” Touka tilted her head to look up at Yomo with a confused expression.

“Why would you say that?” she asked.

“Well, whether you believe it or not Angel isn’t bad. I talked to her and she is sorry for touching your picture.”

“Did you tell her anything about it?” she ran her fingers over the frame.

“No, I didn’t tell her anything, only that it was important to you.”

“Good.” There was silence once more. The silence was disturbed when Yomo spoke up.

“She’s downstairs.” Touka was a little surprised by this.

“Why is she here so late? I thought she would have left by now.”

“She wanted to make sure you were okay before she left.” She wasn’t too surprised by this, but still felt some sort of shock.

“You want me to talk to her?” she asked

“It would be the best.” She looked up at him before sighing.

“Fine.” She said grudgingly. She handed him her picture before getting of the bed and walking out the room. Once she opened the door to the café she saw Angel, who was dressed in her original attire, sitting at the bar counter with her arms crossed. She looked at Touka when she entered the café and opened her mouth to talk. Touka raised a hand before already knowing she was to apologize.

“You don’t need to say your sorry.” She said. “I know you’re sorry.” Angel’s face flushed slightly out of embarrassment. Touka walked and sat next to Angel at the counter. There was a silence between them, the sound of the rain falling was the only sound that filled the café. Touka was content with this, but Angel still had things to say.

“Um Touka-chan?’ she said quietly looking at Touka.

“What is it?” Touka said without looking at Angel.

“I know you’re mad at me for going through your stuff, but I feel like there’s more to it than that.” When Touka didn’t reply she continued. “The moment I wanted a job here you’ve seemed to be annoyed by me.”

“That’s because I was.” Touka said.

“I get that, but my question to you is why. Why do you feel that way about me?” Touka took a quick glance at Angel before groaning.

“There are multiple reasons, but the major one is because you’re too kindhearted.” She half lied. At this Angel gave a confused look. Touka continued. “It’s just that I’ve never met a ghoul like you before. So, happy. So, willing to help others. So… innocent. I would kill to be able to see the world as a place where ghouls could live in harmony. You’ve probably had a perfect life full of happiness and joy to be the way you are.” At this Angel’s gaze down casted and so did her expression.

“Well, not really.” Touka turned to look at Angel with a raised eyebrow. Angel continued to speak. “At the beginning I did have a good life. I was born in the United States and had two loving parents that cared for me and loved me. They not only cared for me but, they helped protect other ghouls as well. But because of this they were constantly putting themselves in harms way. My mom was killed while trying to protect me and my dad. I thought that my dad and I would be able to bounce back form that. To do what my mother wanted and for a while he, but… I had noticed he had changed. He had become more violent and sadistic. He took joy out of killing others and taking over organizations. It didn’t take long before for his ambition and thirst for power got him killed. I moved here to Tokyo to see if I could get a fresh start.”

Touka sat there in silence. Angel’s backstory wasn’t peculiarly shocking, but the fact that Angel was the kind ghoul sitting in front of her stunned her. Touka’s parents had been taken away also which left her to become bitter and aggressive though she was doing better to become nicer.

“The reason I want to help others is because of them.” Angel continued. “They wanted to make the world a better place, but it just didn’t work out for them. I want to make them proud by doing what they wanted to do. Help others.” She then looked up at Touka hopefully. “But first I want to make amends with you.” Touka tilted her head, slightly confused.

“The thing is you seem like such a strong confident person that someone can look up to for strength.” She squeezed the fabric of her shirt as she spoke. “I want us to be friends not enemies, but I can understand if you don’t want to be friends with me, but still…” She held out her tattooed hand with a smile. “Could we please be friends?”

Touka stared at the hand not moving at all. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to forgive Angel so, quickly but there was something about the way Angel smiled at her that originally caused her to sneer now caused her anger to wash away. Slowly but surely, she reached out her own hand. She felt a small shock as her fingers brushed Angel’s.

A loud knock came from the entrance door. This caused Angel to flinch and Touka to swirl to face the door with glaring eyes.

“What the hell?” she said under her breath. “Stay right there.” She commanded Angel before creeping towards the door. Once she got to it she placed her hand on the cold door handle and prepared to see what was on the other side. She tore the door open to confront who ever had arrived at Anteiku after hours. She immediately froze, and her jaw fell open as she saw who was behind the door. Two young male ghouls stood on the other side. They were both drenched by the rain which caused one’s dark blue hair and the other’s pure white hair to droop down. Even in the darkness of the night she could easily tell who they were.

“Ayato… Kaneki.” She looked back and forth between the two ghouls in shock. They both seemed to have been in a serious fight as both ghouls had shredded clothes and large cuts and bruises marked their body. Kaneki looked at Touka with a tired look in his eyes as she stared back at him.

“Touka-chan we need your help.”


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

The sound of glass shattering was almost nonexistent as Shuu jumped through a building’s window. He landed on the tile floor as glass crunched underneath his feet. The storm continued to rage outside; the moon blocked by black rainclouds. Water dripped off his dark form as he brought himself to stand up straight. He looked around the room he had jumped into with luminescent violet eyes. He was in one of his small family owned condos on the second floor. He had used this condo when he didn’t spend his nights at the family mansion. He looked around the familiar living room area, even though it was pitch black his ghoul eyes peered into the darkness as if the room was filled with light.

He had to do this fast. The sooner he had this done the sooner he could go check on Kaneki. He lurked through the empty condo with silent footsteps. He creeped up to a door and gently pushed it open to reveal the room inside. It was his bedroom, it wasn’t as lavish or huge like the one in the mansion, but it was good enough for his tastes. He walked into the room and looked at the bed that was messy. It had its pillows scattered and the covers and sheets wrinkled. He walked to the bed and picked up the pillow closest to him. He felt a smile form on his lips as he brought the pillow to his nose.

The sweet scent of Kaneki filled his nose. It wasn’t that long ago when Kaneki had come to check on him. He had been surprised by the half-ghoul’s actions but was grateful none the less. Remembering what happened that night always gave him chills. It was the first time Kaneki ever- No. He had to stay focused. He placed the pillow back on the bed and turned to face the dresser. He walked to the dresser, crouched down and opened the bottom drawer. Inside was a small black case with a symbol engraved on the top, he cringed as he gazed upon the symbol. He quickly grabbed the case and opened it. Inside were four thick syringes; there was an empty indent that should have held the fifth syringe. The four syringes inside were empty of any contents. Shuu cursed and slammed the case shut.

He began franticly searching around the room. Opening all the draws of the dresser and slamming them shut once he found nothing, throwing the sheets and covers off the bed as well as checking under it. “ _Where is it?!”_ he thought as he tore one of the bed’s pillows in half sending stuffing into the air. Through the mass of white stuffing falling to the ground a glint across the room caught his eye. On the ground underneath the window nearly hidden by one of his exotic blazers was the missing syringe. He ran over to it and threw his blazer aside to reveal the syringe. He grabbed it happily.

The syringe was half filled with a thick liquid that was a dark crimson with bright red bubbles; the liquid moved with the motion similar to a lava lamp. Shuu noticed that the sharp tip of the syringe had dried blood on it and from the scent that was coming of it he could tell that it was his own; not that that surprised him. He twirled the syringe in his fingers and watched as the polychrome liquid inside flip around. He brought his index finger to the tip of the syringe and a smile came to his face. He was going to need this in the future and promptly stuffed it inside his coat. He went to the other side of the room to go look through the dresser again.

The pain that hit his stomach was sudden and unexpected. It was sharp and resided deep within his insides. He stumbled and leaned against the bed frame as his vison blurred. He held his abdomen with a hand and hissed through his teeth. _“Why am I in pain?”_ he thought. _“I already healed, didn’t I?”_ He began feeling the skin of his abdomen to see if there were any open wounds. He was confused when he felt no wounds, but only dried blood on his skin that not had been washed away by the rain. That’s when he felt it. Not the blood on his skin, but a rumble that vibrated through his fingers and was accompanied by a low grumble. He froze as he put the pieces together.

He was _hungry_.

_“Oji-san, my tummy’s hurting again.” Shuu tugged on his uncle’s shirt with his small hands. “It’s been hurting all day.” He looked up at his uncle with pleading eyes. His uncle looked down at him. He didn’t look happy. Shuu could tell from the scolding look in his eyes. The eyes were similar to his own, but instead of a bright violet they were a royal purple._

_“Already.” His uncle said; disdain lacing his voice. “You just ate a couple of days ago, Shuu.” Shuu cringed slightly at his uncle’s words but continued to tug at his shirt._

_“I know, but it’s hurting really bad today.” He whined, and his stomach gave another rumble of pain to prove his words true. His uncle gave another look of anger, but surprisingly it quickly faded and was replaced by “kind” smile._

_“Oh, is it now?” he asked, the sour tone in his voice was gone and instead was a lighter friendlier one. Shuu gave a nod. “Oh, poor little boy.” He brought up a hand and placed it on top of Shuu’s head. “There’s no need to worry. I’ve got something for you that will make you feel all better.” Shuu lit up at this and a smile came to his face._

_“Really?” he asked excitedly._

_“Of course.” Replied his uncle still smiling. “Come this way.”_

_He took his hand off Shuu’s head and gently grab one of his small hands. He led Shuu down the hall and to a door. He promptly opened it and the smell that came from the inside assaulted Shuu’s nose. It was repulsive. It was pitch black behold the thresh hold of the door. The only thing the light from the hall allowed him to see were stairs that led downwards. He didn’t want to go down there. He thought about lying to his uncle. To tell him that his stomach wasn’t hurting anymore and that he could hold out until next month, but it was too late. His uncle was already dragging him to the stairs._

_When his uncle closed the door behind them with a loud boom they were plunged into darkness. He stumbled down the stairs and as he got farther down the disgusting smell got stronger. He felt his feet touch the floor of the room and his uncle let go of his hand. He panicked for a moment before the light was turned on. He covered his eyes with his hands as the bright light blinded him. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness he brought his hands down. His eyes widened when he saw the room._

_The room was a butcher room with several knives, saws, hooks, and other cutting utensils lining the walls. A small white sink was in the left corner of the room. At the center of the room was a long metal table and on top of it was a long plastic black bag. The scent was coming form there; it was nauseating. His uncle walked to the table and grabbed the zipper that was at the top of the bag. With horror he watched his uncle open the bag to reveal a face; blood was around their mouth and a dead lifeless eye stared back at him. He screamed and stumbled back. He covered his mouth with his hands and his eyes began to water. His uncle looked at him over his shoulder with an amused look in his eyes._

_“What’s the matter Shuu?!” he cackled. “Never seen a dead body before?” Shuu began to shake and he took a step back._

_“W-Who is that?” he asked, his voice quivering._

_“No one important.” His uncle said casually. “I could smell him scavenging to close to the mansion so when I found him I ripped out his heart.” He pulled down the zipper more and Shuu could see a large amount of blood around the corpse’s chest area and its shirt was torn. The pain in his stomach seemed to be at the back of his mind as the horrid scent of ghoul innards filled nose, he coughed as it became nearly overwhelming._

_“I-I don’t understand, Oji-san?” he said as his tears overflowed and cascaded down his face. “I thought that you were going to give me something to eat.” His uncle gave a wicked smile at his words._

_“I am.” His uncle said before he reached inside the bag. The sickening sound of flesh being ripped off from bone filled Shuu’s ears. His uncle turned around and in his hand was a large bloody chunk of ghoul flesh. Pale skin stuck on the top while blood dripped down the exposed flesh and muscle. “This,” he gestured to the meat in his hand, “is going to make you feel all better.” He then began to walk towards Shuu with the meat held outstretched. Shuu walked backwards as his uncle approached him._

_“No, I’m okay.” Shuu said still walking backwards. “I don’t need to eat. I can wait.” His uncle’s expression turned sour._

_“Shuu,” he said sternly, “you will eat this whether you like it or not.”_

_“No, please don’t.” Shuu whimpered. “I don’t want to eat my own kind. Papa told me that I should never eat ghouls.” That didn’t help his situation as his uncle’s royal purple irises became crimson. He sneered._

_“I don’t care about your father’s stupid morals. Now come here and eat your food before I make you eat it!” Shuu tried to run. He spun around and ran up the stairs. He had only gotten to the second step when he was yanked back by his collar._

_“No!” he cried as he struggled to get out of his uncle’s grasp. His uncle threw him to the ground and before he could get up his uncle held him down by putting his knee on his chest. As he coughed and struggled to get air into his body, was when his uncle shoved the ghoul flesh into his mouth. He wanted to gag the moment the foul taste hit his tongue. He involuntarily bit down, and the thick course texture of the flesh caught him off guard. He beat his small fists at his uncle’s arms as his uncle shoved the meat down his throat._

_“Eat it boy!” he screamed and pushed the meat further. Shuu cried. It was really the only thing he could do as his struggling didn’t do anything, but make the revolting meat go painfully down further into his throat. When Shuu tried to stop chewing his uncle grabbed his bottom jaw and forcefully made him chew. His small teeth were making it harder to chew the coarse meat. During his panic his tongue accidently got in between his teeth and he gave a muffled scream as he bit off part of his tongue. After a painfully long time of being forced to chew wretched ghoul meat he regretfully swallowed._

_Once he swallowed his uncle got off of him to stare down at him with an entertained look. Shuu rolled on his side and coughed violently; trying to get the vile taste of ghoul out of his mouth. His bleeding tongue wasn’t helping. He wanted to throw up; to heave out the horrid contents he had been forced to consume and to obey his Papa’s wishes to not eat his own kind. But his body reacted differently than he expected. It seemed to absorb the meat as soon as it went done his throat and his stomach stopped rumbling. He physically felt better, but mentally was a different story._

_“See that wasn’t so bad was it?” his uncle asked. Shuu didn’t answer. As he tried to get up off the ground his stomach acted up again. Only this time the pain returned stronger than ever. He cried out and collapsed to the floor._

_“Why does it still hurt?” he cried and looked up at his uncle with tear filled eyes. “I thought you said that will take the pain away?!” This only caused his uncle to look more excited._

_“No, this is perfect.” His uncle said smiling. “That just means your body wants more.” He turned back to the bag and tore of off another chunk of flesh off the corpse. He then turned back to Shuu with the meat outstretched. “Now Shuu do I have to force this down your throat or can you be a big boy and eat it yourself. Your choice.” Shuu looked between the hunk of ghoul flesh out in front of him and up at his uncle’s flashing kakugan. He didn’t want to be hurt anymore and reached out a shaky hand to grab the ghoul meat._

_“Good boy.”_

* * *

“Touka-chan, we need your help.”

It took Touka a moment to process Kaneki’s words. Once she came to her senses she felt her anger for Kaneki rise.

“Really?” she hissed, not trying to hold back her anger. “After all this time of you being gone, you only come back here to ask for help?! You have got to be joking!” Kaneki didn’t seem to be affected by Touka’s reaction. Ayato on the other hand reacted to his sister’s fierceness with his own.

“Hey, dumb sis,” he bared his teeth, “you should be happy that we came back to this crappy place.”

“About that,” she said, now looking at her brother, “why did you two even come back here? You joined Aogiri,” she pointed at Ayato, “and you,” she then pointed at Kaneki, “you went off and created your own group of crusaders. From where I stand both of you have no reason to be here.”

“Touka-chan?” the kind voice of Angel came from behind causing her to look at the she-ghoul seating on the bar stool. Ayato and Kaneki looked behind Touka to look at Angel. Angel continued to speak:

“Whose, at the door?”

“Oh, nobody important.” Touka answered before she looked to face the ghouls in front of her. “It’s just my idiot brother and the runaway Anteiku employee. They’re not supposed to be here.” She then prepared to slam the door.

“Wait!” Angel shouted which caused Touka to stop in her tracks. Angel hopped off the bar stool to get a better look at Kaneki and Ayato. She gave a small gasp once she saw then. “They’re hurt.” It was true. By their ripped clothing and blood-soaked skin there was no doubt that they had gotten into a confrontation.

“Yeah and?” was Touka’s irritated reply.

“And as Anteiku employees it’s our job to help ghouls in need. We need to do our job no matter what and since you know them shouldn’t you be taking special care of them.” Touka couldn’t help but give a growl of anger and look at the two ghouls in front of her. Ayato had a smug grin on his face while Kaneki had a quizzical look in his eyes as he looked at Angel.

“You heard her Touka.” Ayato said not holding back on his smugness. “You’re an Anteiku employee and you need to do your job. Plus, don’t you want to take care of your younger brother?” Touka rolled her eyes and mumbled a curse before saying:

“Fine. Get both of your asses in here.”  She opened the door wider and stood to the side to allow the two to walk in. She glared at both of them as they walked past her; her brother glared back at her. She closed the door once they were inside. “Now both of you go to the back.” She said with a scowling look. “You’re both getting the café floor wet and bloody.” Ayato grumbled but went to the back regardless. Kaneki didn’t move at all. He kept his steely gaze on Angel. Angel cringed a little under his gaze and asked:

“Um, is there something wro-“

“Who are you?” Kaneki interrupted her bluntly. She was surprised, by his interruption, but answered his question.

“My name’s Angel Lawrence.” She held out her hand and smiled. “What’s yours?” he looked at her outstretched hand and then into her eyes.

“Kaneki.” He said simply before turning away from her and going into the back. She gave a look of shock and put her hand down.

“That’s Kaneki?” she said surprised. She turned to look at Touka. “Nishiki-senpai, said that I was like him. I don’t really see what he was talking about.”

“He was like you, but not anymore.” Touka said. “Just go help them.” She then looked at the floor and the trail of blood and water that led to the back door. “I’ve got to mop up this mess those two idiots made.”

“On it.” Angel replied and promptly went into the back of Anteiku. Once she grabbed some towels she headed to the room Kaneki and Ayato were in. The floor of the room was a glassy white tile and there were counters and holding cabinets on the wall. Ayato and Kaneki both sat in chairs at opposite sides of the room. Ayato had gotten out a medical kit while Kaneki sat quietly in his chair. She cleared her throat to get their attention and they turned to look at her. She tried not to shrink under their hard gazes.

“Um, I brought some towels for you guys.” She said quietly and walked over to Ayato. He grabbed one of the towels she had and turned away from her without saying anything. She then went to Kaneki who grabbed the other towel and muttered a small:

“Thanks.”

“No, problem.” She said giving a small smile. As Kaneki began to dry his hair she looked over at the counter next to him. On it lay his black leather mask. Its appearance caught her off guard. She had seen many masks, his was… menacing. The idea of Kaneki and her being similar seemed like a joke.

“So, you’re new here.” At the sound of Kaneki’s voice, she turned her gaze from the mask to Kaneki.

“Oh, yes.” She said. “I just started working here today.” He gave a small nod and took off his jacket to reveal his torn battle suit. To her surprise most of his injuries had healed only leaving dried blood on his skin. The only injury she saw on him was a horizontal gash on his ribs. She was horrified by it as she could see his torn flesh and some of his rib bones. Though Kaneki didn’t seem to be affected by it as he continued to dry his exposed skin.

“Do you need help taking care of that?” She asked as she gestured to his wound. He looked down at his wound and then up at Angel.

“No.” he said plainly. “It will take care of itself.” What he said was true; she could see the flesh starting to reknit and the wound close slowly.

“But, doesn’t that hurt?” To her surprise he scoffed, and she could hear Ayato give a small snort behind her.

“No.” he said again. He saw Angel’s worried look and sighed. “Trust me it might look bad, but it’s just a scratch to me.”

“If you say so.” She said still unsure. She then turned to Ayato and asked:

“Do you need any help?”

“No.” was his immediate reply.

“I can see the resemblance.” She said to herself quietly and then turned back to face Kaneki. “So, Kaneki.”

“Yeah.” Kaneki said as he looked himself over.

“I’ve been told by an employee here that we were similar.” He stopped his movements to look at her. She was a little put off but continued. “I believe it was Nishiki-senpai. He said that you were like me. Not to be offensive or anything, but I wanted to ask you what happened to you to make you change?” There was silence. The only sound in the room was the sound of rain battering against the window. Kaneki’s eyes narrowed in a way that caused Angel to have a shiver run down her spine.

“I don’t like to talk ab out it.” He said in such a dark tone that Angel involuntarily flinched. She then looked down at the floor with a sad look in her eyes.

“S-Sorry.” She stammered quietly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” Kaneki saw her disheartened expression and he let up his harsh glare on her.

“No, it’s okay.” He said calmly. “You don’t know what I’ve been through and I don’t expect you to.” He ran his fingers over his side and felt warm skin where his wound had once been. She noticed this, and her eyes lit up slightly.

“Wow you heal really fast.” She said astonished. “I’ve rarely seen ghouls who can heal that fast.” She saw his lips quiver a bit as if they were going to pull into a smile, but they stayed neutral to her dismay.

“I’m a strong rinkaku.” He said. Then he gestured to the ghoul across the room. “Can’t say the same for him though.” She turned around to see Ayato had taken of his leather jacket. He wore a black short-sleeved t-shirt which revealed a large hole in the middle of his bicep. The damage done to his arm looked like he had been stabbed straight through by a blade of some kind. Ayato was trying and failing to wrap is arm in bandages. Every time he would try and wrap the bandages around his arm the bandage wouldn’t stick to his skin causing him to go in an endless circle; his anger and annoyance showed on his face. He noticed their gazes and turned to glare at them.

“What the hell are you two looking at?!”  he asked aggressively.

“You pathetically trying to wrap up your own arm.” Was Kaneki’s response.  Angel shot a small look at Kaneki before taking a step towards Ayato.

“Do you need any help, Ayato-san?” she asked.

“No.” she wasn’t surprised by his second refusal.

“Please,” she said taking another step forward, “you clearly need help. There’s no need to refuse a helping hand.” He continued to glare at her as she came to stand beside him. “I won’t bite you if that’s what you are afraid of.” She said jokingly.

“I’m not afraid of you.” He hissed with his teeth bared.

“Then why, won’t you let me help you?” at her question, he tried to retort with a comeback, but found himself at a loss for words. He glared at her soft smile and he felt his eyes roll.

“Fine.” He mumbled out and held out his arm towards her. She hummed as she grabbed the bandages and began to work on his arm. Once she got the bandage to stick to his skin she began wrapping it around his arm and grabbed his arm in her tattooed hand to hold it still. He looked away from her as she worked on his arm. Where her hand grabbed his arm, he couldn’t help but feel a small tingle come from her touch.

“Geez, this is bad.” She commented. “What happened to you guys?”

“Well,” Ayato said as he turned to face her, “some ghouls with tats came and-“ he stopped midsentence when he saw her tattooed hand. Seeing his gapping stare she stopped her movements and asked:

“Is there something wrong?” The moment the words left her mouth she was roughly grabbed by her tattooed arm by Ayato. Taken by surprise she dropped the roll of bandages and cried out as his grip on her tightened. He twisted her arm causing her to fall roughly to her knees. He looked down at her with his kakugan activated and his teeth bared. Kaneki immediately shot up from his seat with a shocked look.

“What the hell, Ayato?!” he shouted and stepped forward aggressively.

“Don’t be fooled dumbass!” Ayato shouted back at Kaneki. “She’s got tattoos just like those other ghouls.” He then grabbed a hold of her shirt sleeve and completely tore the fabric off. The blue markings on her skin went all the up her arm to her shoulder where the rest of her shirt covered her skin. Kaneki seemed to be shocked into silence as he didn’t act further. Ayato sneered as he brought Angel close to him, so he could yell in her face. She looked absolutely terrified as he began screaming:

“Why the hell are you here?! Are you trying to cause trouble?! Do you know those other tattooed ghouls?! Who are you?!” When Angel continued to shake and not answer any of his questions he got even more irritated. “Answer me!”

“I-I don’t…” Angel stuttered as she tried to pull away from the other ghoul. Ayato’s crimson irises flashed.

“You little-“ he was cut off as a blur of motion came from out of no where and collided with his face. He grunted as the blow sent him colliding against the wall behind him. He hissed and wiped off the blood that had trickled out of the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He looked to see who had assaulted him and growled once he saw them. Touka stood protectively in front of Angel with her kakugan activated and canines showing.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Ayato?!” she yelled, anger charging her voice. “I swear you can be such an idiot.”

“Oh, I’m the idiot?” Ayato hissed back and taking a step forward. “Do you even know what she is?”

“What are talking about?!”

“It was ghouls that had the same tattoos as her that caused us to be her.” The calm voice of Kaneki sounded. He walked to stand next to Ayato. “Ghouls like her took over Aogiri Tree tonight.” Touka felt Angel shift behind her to poke her head out from behind Touka. Her eyes were wide.

“They’re already here?” she sounded shocked.

“So, you do know them?!” Ayato questioned taking another step forward.

“No- I mean yes- I mean I know who your talking about.” She said moving to stand out from behind Touka. She was about to speak when a familiar voice came from the doorway.

“What’s going on in here?” the strong voice of Yomo caused everyone to turn and look at him. He looked over at the two she-ghoul then to the male ghouls across from them. No, emotion showed on his face when he saw Ayato and Kaneki. “Oh, you two came back.” He said casually. “It’s late guys whatever is going on you can wait until morning.” Touka and Ayato opened their mouths to protest but stopped when Yomo sent both of them a glare. “Clean yourselves up and get some sleep. Kaneki and Ayato can use the spare rooms. Angel come with me, I’m going to help take you home.”

With his orders given he turned around and walked out the room expecting Angel to follow. Angel didn’t dare to disobey and only gave Touka a quick hug saying “thanks” before following behind Yomo. Touka glared at the two ghouls in front of her wanting to act on her anger but knew Yomo was right. She let her kakugan fade away and she grudgingly turned and walked out the room without saying a word. Ayato and Kaneki looked at each other before Kaneki sighed and began to walk out the room but was stopped by Ayato who grabbed his arm. He turned his head to look at the younger ghoul.

“Do you think we should kill her?” Ayato asked. Kaneki stared at him for a moment before answering:

“She doesn’t seem to be a threat, but if she is I’ll take her out.”

He tugged his arm from out of Ayato’s grip and walked out of the room. Ayato was left alone in the room to finish taking care of his wounds. Once he finished he turned off the light and went into a spare guest room. He tossed his boots off carelessly and plopped down on the bed. The bed creaked slightly as he rolled onto his back and rested his head on the pillow. With his sore body and tired mind, it didn’t take long for him to drift off into a restful sleep.

* * *

Ayato laid motionless in the bed. He had been fast asleep for a while, but in the middle of the night he had woken up and found he couldn’t go back to sleep. He tried changing his sleeping position and adjusting his pillow, but nothing worked. Then he had decided to try and wait until morning to get out of bed. The task seemed easy in his mind but laying in bed for who knows how long became extremely boring.

He huffed quietly and looked to his left where he saw his older sister, Touka, sound asleep. He felt envious that she was able to get a good night’s sleep and he wasn’t. Boredom finally over took him and he decided that he was going to get out of bed. He threw the covers off of him and hopped out of bed. He tipped toed to the closed door and made sure his footsteps didn’t wake his sister by taking carful steps. He opened the door slightly and poked his head out. He could see light coming from the living room. He opened the door wider, so he could squeeze his small body through the gap. Once outside he closed the door behind him quietly and smiled at his small success.

He walked down the hall and into the front of the living room. The lamp on the stand next to the couch was turned on, illuminating the room. On the couch sat a familiar ghoul. He was reading a large book while eating cubes of flesh from a bowl on the low table in front of him. Sensing Ayato’s presence the ghoul stopped reading his book and looked at him with an annoyed expression.

“What are you doing up, it’s 12 'o clock at night?” Shuu asked as he popped another cube into his mouth.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Ayato replied, twiddling his thumbs.

“Of course, you couldn’t.” Shuu huffed. “Well, what do you plan to do now?”

“I was wondering if I could come out and sit with you.” Ayato said with a pleading look in his eyes. Shuu grumbled and patted the space beside. Ayato smiled widely and practically ran to the couch. He jumped and landed next to Shuu on the couch. “Thanks, Nii-chan.” At this Shuu gave the younger ghoul a confused, irritated, look.

“Why do you call me that?” he asked, irked. “I’m not your brother.”

“I know.” Ayato replied happily. “But with how you take care of me and my sister you might as well be our brother. Plus, you have the same wacky hair color as us.” He gestured to Shuu’s violet colored hair. Shuu gave a small roll of his eyes and returned to reading the book in his lap. He reached out his hand and grabbed another cube of flesh. He tossed it into his mouth and within seconds he chewed it and swallowed. He went to grab another one. Ayato watched as Shuu ate the meat and felt his mouth water slightly.

“Can I have one?” he asked pointing to the bowl. Shuu swallowed the meat in his mouth and turned his gaze to look at Ayato.

“No.” he said firmly and grabbed another cube.

“Why not?” Ayato whined, crossing his arms.

“Because if I fed you this,” he squeezed the cubed between his thumb and index finger, “your father would kill me.” Ayato gave a look of surprise at Shuu’s words.

“No, he wouldn’t.” he said. “My dad’s one of the nicest ghoul’s there is. Sure, he can be strict, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Shuu chuckled. His lips curled into a small smirk and his white teeth shown.

“Yeah, sure Ayato-bō.” He said as he finished chuckling and threw the cube in his hands into his mouth. He looked down and continued to read his book. Ayato tried to look to see what Shuu was reading but couldn’t get a good enough look. He scooted closer to Shuu to the point where they were almost touching. He leaned over to see the inside of the book and what Shuu was reading. He was intrigued when he saw what looked like a knight in shinning armor like in one of the stories his dad had read to him. Though this knight looked dark and twisted. The picture was surrounded by words which he guessed was information and there was a large caption under the knight which he had a hard time reading. He tried pronouncing it.

“Kaika. Kakja. Kakuka.”

“Kakuja.” Shuu corrected him. His eyes never leaving the page.

“What’s kakaja.” Shuu ignored Ayato’s mispronunciation and said:

“A kakuja is what some ghouls gain when they eat other ghouls.” Ayato was shocked by this information.

“Some ghouls eat other ghouls?” he asked shaken. Shuu nodded.

“Yes. Cannibalism among ghouls’ usually occurs when there aren’t enough humans to go around, or a ghoul wants to try and gain a kakuja.”

“But why would a ghoul want a kakaja?”

“Because kakuja’s are stronger than normal ghouls. Kakuja’s have a mutated kakuhou which not only boosts their kagune’s strength, but also gives them something akin to armor that covers their body. Though it depends on the ghoul on what form their kakuja will take.”

“I still don’t get it.” Ayato said as he scratched his head. “It doesn’t make sense why a ghoul would want to eat their own kind to get stronger. It’s wrong.” At this Shuu sat up straight and looked down at Ayato with a hard gaze. Ayato had to look up to meet Shuu’s gaze.

“Listen here Ayato- bō and listen well.” Shuu said, his voice matched his serious expression. “Strength and power is key to survival in this world we live in. The strong and powerful are on top while the weak are at the bottom. Depending on how much power one has, decides whether they are at the top or on the bottom. For you see, Ayato- bō,” he leaned down closer to the younger ghoul,

“The world is _power_.

“Being powerful means that you have the ability to control not the only the people around you, but the world as well. The powerful can do whatever they please and by doing so they crush the weak under their heels.” He leaned back from a stunned Ayato and grinned. “Remember that for the rest of your life Ayato- bō, you will need it for the future.” Ayato could only nod as he tried to process the information given to him.

“Nii-chan.” he said in a quiet voice.

“Yes.”

“Do you know who’s powerful?” he continued to look up at Shuu.

“Yes. We are powerful. Our families are different than other ghouls. We hold power that can crush other ghouls and put them under our feet.” Ayato lit up at this.

“Really?” he said astonished. “What power do we have?”

“I’ll let it be a surprise.” Ayato leaned back into the couch half disappointed that he didn’t know what certain power he had and half content that he knew had power to do what he wanted. The feeling of knowing that you hold power that will put you on top is remarkable. Shuu looked down and continued his usual cycle of eating and reading. Ayato laid down on the couch and rested his head in Shuu’s lap. Shuu tensed up at first, but his muscles soon relaxed. Ayato found comfort in Shuu’s warmth and rhythmic pulse.  He closed his eyes and curled in on himself for extra warmth. When a hand started stroking itself through his hair it didn’t take long for his mind to drift off.

“Nii-chan.”

“Yes.”

“How long are you going to be here tonight?”

“Till your father gets back from work. Now get some sleep, you need it.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Nii-chan.”

“Goodnight, Ayato- bō.”


	5. The Fall of Aogiri Tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

The mood in the lounge room was tense. It was morning and the Anteiku employees with their late-night guests were seated in the room to talk about important matters. Though Roma, Nishiki, Irimi, and Koma, were downstairs taking care of the café. Ayato and Kaneki sat on the left couch while Angel and Touka sat on the couch across from them, however Ayato and Kaneki weren’t as close to each other as Angel and Touka were. Touka had her arms crossed and glared at the males across from her and Ayato returned her glare with his own.

Kaneki looked quite calm and silently gazed between the two siblings and the new Anteiku employee that was basically glued to Touka’s side. Angel kept her gaze low and only took small glances at the ghoul’s that had threatened her the night before. Yoshimura was seated in the single seater chair and had a stern expression as he looked between the two sides. Yomo was not seated in a chair but chose to stand in the corner silently examining all the ghouls in front of him with his steely grey eyes. Yoshimura broke the silence and turned to look at the two male ghouls.

“I’m glad you two came back to Anteiku.” He offered a smile. “You both were missed.” Ayato scoffed at this while Kaneki remained silent. “Though I’m told the reason you came back isn’t a good one. Please tell me what happened.” Kaneki opened his mouth to speak, but Ayato beat him to it.

“I was at a meeting for Aogiri Tree members when two ghouls with same tattoos as her,” he pointed an accusing finger at Angel, “brought a bunch of other ghouls and took over Aogiri. Also, when I was trying to escape I found out eyepatch here was spying on us.” He then pointed his thumb behind him where Kaneki was sitting. Everyone in the room besides Yomo and Kaneki gave a look of shock at Ayato’s words.

“What do you mean Aogiri was taken over? What happened to Eto?” Yoshimura asked, worry lacing his voice.

“The leader of the group of ghouls that attacked challenged Eto one on one.” Kaneki spoke up. “He claimed that he was the King of Ghouls before he and Eto fought, we didn’t see their battle, but from the sounds I heard their battle destroyed some of the base. Though the last I saw of either of them was, the “king” striking Eto and sending her out of the room. Judging by how the “king” was able to thwart Eto’s attack the way he did I believe that Eto lost.”

“Did he kill her?” the manager clamped his hands together tightly as he spoke.

“I can’t give you a clear answer, but in my opinion, I don’t think she lived.” Yoshimura’s expression down casted at this. He rubbed his eyes and let out a rough sigh.

“Tell us what happened.” Yomo’s voice caused everyone’s gaze to turn from the manager to himself.

“Didn’t I just-“

“In more detail.” Yomo interrupted Ayato. “From beginning to end. That way all of us know what happened in full, so we can discuss the matter further.”  Ayato gave a small roll of his eyes and said:

“Fine, I’ll tell the story if that’s what you want. It first started when Eto, Tatara, Noro, and I were walking to a meeting…

* * *

Ayato strutted down the halls of the Aogiri base. He had his hands in his black jacket pockets and his purple scarf around his neck that bounced with every step. After the attack on Cochlea, Aogiri had regrouped back at the base and were going to plan their next attack against the CCG. In front of him walked the leader of Aogiri Tree, Eto, with her two subordinates Tatara and Noro.

Eto walked with the energy of a young child and giggled as she talked to her two subordinates. Her wrapped up face moving ever so slightly with her facial expressions. Noro gave no vocal reply, but instead gave small nods as a response. His masked face gave no sign on how he was feeling. Tatara walked with his head held up high and his arms at his sides. He had a calm emotionless face as he spoke beneath his mask to answer his leader.

Ayato didn’t bother to join in on their conversation and blocked them out or at least tried to. Though as he walked he couldn’t help but sense something. It nagged just at the edge of his hearing like objects in his periveral vison. He grinded his teeth slightly as he focused on the sound that was a bleep on his radar. He tensed slightly as the sound suddenly increased in volume though it wasn’t loud enough for the others to hear. Was that another pair of footsteps?

“Is something the matter Ayato-kun? You’re quieter than Noro.” The voice of Eto brought him out of his trance and the bleep on his radar vanished. He looked to see Eto’s head turned to him and a smile was on her face.

“Nothing’s wrong.” He said. “There’s just nothing I need to say.”

“Oh, well then I’ve been meaning to ask you something about your new mask.” His head shot up at this.

“What?” Eto gave a small chuckle.

“Your new mask. It’s very different from your original one.”

“Yeah and?”

“I wanted ask you, out of all the things you could have chosen, why did you choose a rabbit to represent yourself? Rabbits are small adorable creatures and I know for a fact that you are not small or adorable.” She pointed a finger at Ayato who shrugged nonchalantly.

“I like rabbits that’s all.” She glared at him analyzing his neutral expression.

“Oh, really I thought you would give a more creative answer. Like, somebody you loved died and they loved rabbits, or you believe a rabbit is your spirit animal.”

“Nope. Rabbits are one of the very few things I like in this world so choosing it to be my mask was an easy decision.” She put her hand on her chin as she took in his words.

“Hmph. Fine you don’t have to tell me.” She turned her head to face forwards again.

"What’s that supposed to mean.” He questioned. She only chuckled in response.

“You know the more that I think about it, you made yourself a terrifying ghoul with that rabbit mask of yours. SS-rated, Black Rabbit, the ferocious ukaku ghoul. I like it.”

* * *

“Wait seriously?” Touka said with her arms crossed.

“What do you mean?” Ayato asked irritated that he was interrupted.

“I mean you seriously changed your mask to a bunny’s because you think their cute.”

“May I remind you of your mask.”

“Yeah, but I always had that mask. You changed your previous, and may I say horrifying mask, for a black bunny. It doesn’t seem like the big bad Ayato.”

“Look, it’s not important why I changed my mask you-“ he stopped talking when he noticed Angel was smiling widely and looking between himself and Touka. “What are you smiling about?” he asked. Being caught Angel twiddled her thumbs and said happily:

“Oh, I just thought it was sweet that you both had bunny masks.” Ayato and Touka both flushed slightly in embarrassment. Touka grumbled and turned her gaze downwards while Ayato scoffed and said:

“Again, our masks aren’t important. Shut up and let me continue”

* * *

They were silent after that. Ayato looked down as they continued down the hall. The door to the meeting room was in sight. He gave a deep exhale through his nose as he prepared to face a room full of Aogiri members, but… Something didn’t feel right. His senses had suddenly been turned up to eleven and his body tensed.

“What the hell?” he muttered under his breath. He knew the others were going through the same thing by how their demeanor changed. Even Noro tilted his head in confusion. Ayato took in a deep breath in through his nose and the smell of copper hit his senses. No not copper, blood. The scent got stronger as they all got closer to the door.

“You sense that Tatara?” Eto asked her demeanor didn’t change as she still skipped down the hall. “Seems like something went down in the meeting room without us.”

“Eto,” Tatara spoke up, “I highly suggest you use caution. You don’t know who is on the other side.”

“Oh, please Tatara!” Eto cooed. “I may be small, but I assure you that I can handle whatever is on the other side of that door.” If someone had infiltrated Aogiri Ayato would love to see what idiot got through their defenses. Probably some rouge ghoul that got through by sheer luck looking for trouble. Well, they were in a whole lot of trouble once Eto got a hold of them. Once Eto got to the door she hurriedly turned the knob and pushed it open. When the door opened the scent of blood rushed them like a wave. The door slammed against the wall as Eto strode inside the meeting room with her lackeys following suit.

“Well, what do we have… here?” Eto had started off strong in her shout, but she quickly faded as she saw the state of the room.

The first thing Ayato saw as he walked through the threshold of the door was the blood that coated the floor. The crimson fluid was in big splatters and formed deep puddles. There wasn’t just blood on the floor, but corpses to. The deceased Aogiri members were spread across the floor and had fatal wounds. Every corner of the huge room was covered in gore. At the center of the room was the white long table that had a model of Tokyo’s wards on it. Two ghouls sat at the table.

One sat to the left of the head chair while the other one sat at the head chair. The ghoul that sat next to the head chair was female and she had her arms crossed over her chest with a smug look on her face. The one sitting in the head chair had their back turned to the group of ghouls entering the room. Eto stood the closest to the table with Noro, Tatara, and Ayato standing behind her.

“Wow, I must say this is a marvelous plan.” The ghoul at the head chair spoke. It was a male voice that carried strength and significance. The sound of a small model being moved was heard from behind the chair. Ayato glared at the back of the ghoul; wanting him to show his face. “I mean it’s well thought out and planned, but,” the ghoul stood up from the chair, his tall figure showing, and turned his head to glare at the ghouls behind with an azure eye, “it won’t work.” He walked from behind the chair and faced Eto and her subordinates. He was easily over six feet tall and loomed over the shorter ghoul.

He wore a white hooded cloak that covered most of his body. There was azure colored trimming on the ends and the clip holding it on his body was an azure colored arch that gleamed under the light. His attire didn’t compare to his physical features. He had a light skin tone with no blemishes or bumps. He had auburn brown hair that was combed back and curled slightly at its ends. His right arm wasn’t made out of flesh, but rather was made out of silver-colored material that resembled metal; it glistened under the light. His left arm was covered in an array of azure tattoos.

They swirled around his arm in a wave like fashion that drew attention to it. The tattoos seemed to still go on underneath his shirt. He had a good-looking face with flawless teeth. What drew Ayato to the ghoul’s face were his eyes. His right eye was a beaming azure that matched the same color of his tattoos. His left eye was a dark brown and looked black next to his bright azure iris. They stared intently at Eto as if to bore into her soul.

The aura this guy had rubbed Ayato the wrong way. Was this ghoul the reason why his body tense up and his heart race. In some way he was familiar, like someone you’ve heard of but never seen. He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind to fully focus on the intruder in front of him.

“Good evening Eto.” He said casually. “Or should I call you the One-Eyed Owl. I’ve seen your file; you are quite the little monster.” He gave a small smile. “Addressing you as “Owl” would be more formal wouldn’t it?”

“Eto is just fine.” The Aogiri leader said with her hands on her hips. She looked the taller ghoul up and down. “I must ask, did you make this mess in my meeting room?” she gestured to the carnage around them. The male ghoul turned his head to look at the corpses that littered the ground and his smile widened.

“Why yes I did. You see I came here to talk to you Eto, but your Aogiri members got in my way. So, I simply disposed of them.” He looked back to Eto who had her eyebrows lowered in a scowl under her bandages.

“Well, exactly who do you think are to come here to _my_ base and kill _my_ members? If you’ve read my file, I’m sure you can only imagine what I do to intruders.” His expression didn’t change at her threat.

“Oh, I’m sorry I thought you knew who I was.” He said in a light tone. “I am Rhys, King of Ghouls. You may address me as king.” Ayato’s eyes widened in shock and he was taken aback by the intruder’s words. He could tell the others were as shocked as he was. Was this guy serious?

“Oh, really!?” Eto yelled anger filling her voice. She stomped her foot on the ground and there was a loud crack as her foot made contact with the floor. “I’m guessing you’re not from around here Rhys, but here we already have a king.” Rhys’ expression changed this time. His lopsided grin became a sneer and his eyes narrowed to almost pinpricks.

“Oh, I know about _your_ “king”.” He hissed. “The One-Eyed King is said to be the undefeated warrior of ghouls and humans alike. He may be the _champion_ , but I am the _ruler_ of both races.” He took a step forward and leaned over Eto, casting a large shadow over the smaller ghoul. “Your “king” may be stronger than everyone else but trust me now that I’m here I am the strongest being in Tokyo. I’m surprised none of you have heard of me before. I feel insulted really. But really what is insulting,” he then turned and looked at Ayato, “is that your father never told you about me.” Ayato was even more stunned by this. He gave a confused expression and said:

“You knew my father?” Rhys smiled.

“Of course, I did. I’m guessing Arata didn’t tell you anything about his past or you would have known who I was.”

“How did you know my father?” Ayato asked aggressively taking a step forward. Tatara held his arm out to stop Ayato from walking any further.

“HA! How do we know your father!?” the loud laugh came from the female ghoul seating at the table.

* * *

“They knew about dad?!” Touka shouted and jumped up from the couch she was seating on. “How could that be?”

“I have no idea, I thought you would know.” Ayato replied back.

“How should I know?! The only thing secretive I knew about dad was that he gained a kakuja from the ghouls he ate when he went out at night.”

“I thought you would know something because you are the older sister. Turns out you know crap.”

“Let’s not talk about him right now.” Yomo’s voice came from the back of the room. “Touka sit down and Ayato continue.” Touka obeyed the older ghoul sitting back down next to Angel who put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Ayato continued.

* * *

The female ghoul that had accompanied Rhys had her arms crossed over her chest and a smug grin on her face. She wore an imperial red sleeveless tank top that was made out of a fine material. She had on thick dark brown pants that were torn at her left thigh with short black steel heeled boots. She had a silver pauldron with an engraved symbol of a phoenix, that rested on her right shoulder. On her right thigh was a plate of silver armor with engraved flames along the rims.

Around her neck hung a golden medallion with a black circle in the center and within it a phoenix. She had short fiery red hair that faded to white at its end and was combed to the side and stuck out. She had bright fiery orange eyes that contrasted against her pale complexion. Along the left side of her body were fiery orange tattoos that flowed like flames. She looked at Ayato with an amused look in her fiery eyes.

“Your precious father-“ she stopped once she saw Rhys had raised his tattooed hand; signaling her to stop talking.

“Not now Lilith.” He didn’t turn to face her as he talked. “He’ll find out later.” He turned to look down at Eto again. “Now, the reason I am here is tell you about the future of Aogiri and the rest of this region. My empire isn’t on this side of this of the earth. It’s in North America; so far, my armies have managed to take over the majority left side of the United States of America. To speed up the process of the takeover of the world the Queen and I have decided to split up. She continues to fight over in the Americas while I’ll came here, to Asia, to start subduing the humans. This is the next step of the human’s fall and the rise of ghouls.” Eto kept her strong stance as she took in Rhys’ words along with her subordinates.

“Well I bet you’re proud of yourself,” she said childishly, “but if you’re supposed to be taking over Asia why are you in my base in the middle of the night? Have you come to form an alliance with Aogiri Tree?”

“Well, not exactly. You see Eto, Aogiri is doing a grand job of terrorizing and overtaking new ground for your organization… by human standards. In my eyes I see a group of ghouls trying desperately to dominate over the humans and not quite getting the job done… but I also see potential. I want to help Aogiri Tree to become the most feared ghoul organization in all of Tokyo!”

“And how exactly will you do that?” Eto asked straightening herself up with her hands firmly on her hips. Rhys towered over the small ghoul as he looked down at her and gave a stunning smile.

“By getting rid of its original leaders of course.” The air in room the instantly became unsafe as those words left Rhys’ mouth. A new sense of danger filled all the ghoul’s senses. Lilith instantly perked up; leaning forward as a devious smile formed on her red lips.

“Excuse me.” Eto’s distorted voice hissed. “Would you say that again?” Rhys never removed his gaze from Eto.

“You heard me. You and your two subordinates will step down so that myself and the princess will take charge of Aogiri.” He gestured to Lilith who looked all too happy.

“Oh, and you think just because you two are “royalty” you can just barge in here and kick me and my subordinates out of our ranks? This is _my_ organization with _my_ followers. You think they will ever listen to scum like you?”

“No, well not yet any way, but for the time being I already have ghouls that will obey my command.” He then gestured to the window at the far-left side of the room. Eto and the others turned to look at the window that showed the rest of the base. It didn’t take a genius to tell that Aogiri was being overrun. The enemy ghouls had white masks that had varied forms such as covering the entire face, just the eyes, or just the mouth. They also wore a variety of attire ranging from black cloaks to black armor, but all had the same azure arch located on their backs or chest. They were attacking the rest of the Aogiri members and from the looks of things Aogiri was losing.

“Now Eto this doesn’t have to end in violence. I’m willing to let you and your subordinates step down peacefully and more ghouls won’t have to die tonight.” he gestured with a tattooed hand at the multiple corpses. “I would hate it if I had to fight you.” Eto looked over her shoulder at Tatara and Noro. They both gave the slightest of nods and she too nodded. She looked back up at Rhys and scoffed.

“What’s the matter Kingie? Afraid to get your hands dirty?” Rhys’ expression immediately changed at Eto’s answer. His brows and eyelids lowered and his smiled ceased; becoming a thin line instead.

“So be it.” He let out a low grumble and made a gesture towards Lilith. The she-ghoul instantly jumped up from her seat and strutted over to the tall ghoul. “Lilith,” he spoke in a commanding voice, “you will take out the subordinates and I will handle Eto got it.”

“I’m all over it.” Lilith said grinning.

Eto attacked first. Unleashing her massive ukaku kagune in a flash; it’s twisted form racing towards the intruders. Her kagune didn’t even get the chance to harm her intended victims before a violent force collided with her small body and she was sent flying through the wall behind her. There was a loud crack and gust of wind the caused Ayato to duck slightly. When he looked back up he stared wide eyed at the empty spot where Eto and Rhys had just stood a moment before. All that stood in front of the subordinates now was Lilith. She looked over the Aogiri members with a burning fire in her eyes.

“Do you all even know who you’re up against?” She said with her hands on her hips.

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Was Ayato’s response as he prepared to fight. Her gaze turned to him and she gave a small chuckle.

“You have the spirit your dad once had. Too bad that wasn’t enough to stop him from becoming an investigator’s play toy.” Ayato went to lunge at Lilith but was surprised when Tatara beat him to it. Tatara crossed the distance to face of Lilith faster than he could. Tatara attempted to punch Lilith, but she dodged it with ease and made to hit him back. He also dodged, but her fist was noticeably closer his body than his was to hers. She jumped back onto the table to dodge his next punch and grabbed one of the chairs around the table and hurdled it at him. He summoned his kagune within seconds. The large red tail broke through the chair as if it were air and it continued on it’s course to strike Lilith.

She leaped off the table to avoid being struck by the tail, but in the process, she put herself in the path of Noro’s bikaku kagune. She stared wide eyed as the monstrous mouth bit into her side and sent her skidding across the room. When she landed hard on the floor, Ayato made his move to attack and with a thought he manifested his kagune and sent out a large barrage of deadly shards. He was surprised when Lilith shot up from her place on the floor and rolled out from the range of the crystal shards. There was a large chunk of flesh missing on her right side from Noro’s attack, but she had moved as if she hadn’t been hurt at all. She looked up at Ayato with a grin on her face.

“Yep, you’re definitely one of Arata’s little brats.” She said casually as she dodged another attack from Tatara’s tail. “You know I’ve been letting you all attack me all this time.” She said as Tatara closed in on her; he sent out his tail to impale her in a simple motion. “I think it’s time that I fought back.”

The fire in her eyes exploded; her orange irises remained the same as a black hue with an orange tint filled her slearas. There was a bright light that was blinding and a loud boom that caused Ayato to look away. Tatara felt a shock of pain course through him and he stumbled back as his kagune tail dissolved into a red mist. He stared aghast as he saw the opponent across from him. Lilith’s fiery orange tattoos were glowing. The light coming off of her tattoos was like a flame that had just been brought to life. The wound on her side was completely healed with newly formed flesh filling the gash that was in her side. She smiled widely as she brought up her tattooed hand and her tattoos grew brighter as fire began to dance out of her hand and run down her arm. She unleased a wave of fire towards Tatara and he brought up his arms to protect himself.

Noro collided with Tatara’s side pushing him to the ground and throwing himself on top of him to protect him from the flames. He brought around his bikaku tail as an extra shield. The flames slammed into the bikaku tail with a loud boom, though as the flames collided with the improvised shield they managed to roll over it and hit the ghouls behind it. The fire singed Tatara’s robe and hair as he curled underneath Noro’s large body. Noro wasn’t properly shielded like Tatara and the flames burned his body. It charred his back and it shorted the length of his long black ponytail, but he continued to shield Tatara from the flames with his body and gave no sign that the flames hurt him. The fire blew back the large table and chairs behind them destroying them in the process. Ayato could feel the intense heat and was thankful that he wasn’t in the path of the inferno.

As the fire died down the smell of Noro’s cooked flesh filled the room. His burnt kagune looked skinnier and black as it broke and dissolved into nothingness. He got off of Tatara, who gave him a thankful look as he brought himself to his knees. Noro gave a silent nod of his head; his ponytail had come undone causing what was left of his black hair to drape down part of his mask and down his back. His body was already beginning to heal itself at an astonishing rate. The heat in the room increased as did the light which caused the three male ghouls to turn their gaze back to Lilith. Sprouting from her back were a pair of wings that looked like they were made from fire. Her ukaku kagune brought forth fire that danced around her glowing tattoo’s and caused her unnaturally colored kakugan to glow.

“Wow, would you look at that.” She said mockingly as she took a step forward. “The silent giant protecting his friend, isn’t that sweet.” She put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes.  “Please I’m just getting started I suggest you take me more seriously and make this a more memorizing experience for me.”

* * *

“You’re smiling again.” Ayato said when he noticed Angel’s bright smile. “This is supposed to be a traumatic story.”

“Oh sorry.” She apologized. “I just thought it was sweet that even Aogiri is bad, some of is members still protect each other from harm.”

“You sure do think everything’s sweet, don’t you?” Angel chuckled nervously and said:

“I guess.” Ayato rolled his eyes and continued.

* * *

Ayato stared aghast at the tattooed she-ghoul, who was this ghoul? Tatara turned to him and said:

“Run.” The tone in his voice was firm.

“What?” Ayato said confused.

“You heard me run.” Ayato went to talk again but Tatara interrupted him. “Go get help from the Owl.” He said as he stood up along with Noro. Tatara’s kakugan glowed fiercely as the skin on his shoulder blades opened and released a mass of flames and armor that covered his body. “GO NOW!” at Tatara’s booming shout Ayato spun around and sprinted out the room.

The clashing of the battle behind was soon lost as he rounded a corner and flew down the case of stairs. He ran to the exit and burst out the door. The night air was warm, dark clouds filled the black sky signaling the coming of a storm. Underneath the dark sky ghouls fought each other for power. Ayato looked at the chaos around him and could hear his heart pounding in his ears. None of Rhys’ ghouls had noticed his presence as they were too busy taking down the remaining Aogiri members. He sprinted once again; not out into the conflict, but parallel to the building. A loud boom came from deep inside the building followed by a distorted scream. He could only guess that Eto had released her kakuja. He rounded the corner of the building and was happy to see the way ahead was clear, besides for a few corpses. He just had to make it out of the base and he could follow Tatara’s last order. Though he hated where he had to go, he knew following his superior’s order was important. He began running again; jumping over the Aogiri corpses and making sure not to slip on the puddles of blood.

“Where are you off too little bunny?!” the playful female voice came from above and caused him to stop in his tracks. He looked up and the building to see who had spoken.

It was a female ghoul standing on one of the high ledges of the building. Even in the dark he could see what the ghoul looked like. The she-ghoul had the physique of an average adult female ghoul though she seemed to be a little skinnier. She had long dark pink hair that looked glossy and went to her hips. A single streak of black ran down her left bang. She wore what looked like a mix of battle clothes and formal wear. She had a dark pink short-sleeved dress that went to her knees and had black frilling around the rims. Around her waist was a black belt that clung to her body tightly. She had on black leggings that had padding on the thighs and shins and black boots. She also had thick fingerless gloves that went to her elbows and contrasted against her pale skin.

Around her neck was a silver chain necklace with a butcher knife as the charm. Her mask was most surprising to Ayato. It looked like the happy face emoji, but the eyes were black x’s and the smile was a blood red u. It looked like it was poorly taken care of as the colors were slightly faded and small blood splatters covered it. The light breeze of the oncoming storm tugged at her hair and caused her dress to flow.

Ayato stared at the ghoul with surprise as she gave him a playful wave along with a distorted chuckle that came from behind her mask. Old memories that he had long been buried were brought back up in an instant as he stared at the menacing smile of the mask. His hands became fists and his gaping stare turned to a glare as he sneered.

“Is that you, Happy Face?” The she-ghoul chuckled and grabbed the bottom of the mask before slowly taking it off. The face beneath looked young and had bright blue eyes that seemed to glow in the night even though dark shadows gathered under them. Pink lips were pulled into a mocking smile revealing white teeth.

“In the flesh.” She said still smiling.

“Though you can call me Diane, Ayato-kun. Happy Face is what the humans call me.” She attached her mask to the side of her belt and clasped her hands together, basically jumping. “Oh, I’m so happy you remember me. It has been quite a while since we have seen each other, you were very young after all.”

“You tried to eat my sister and I.” Ayato said aggressively. “If I forgot about you I wouldn’t know to kill you the next time I saw your face.”

* * *

Ayato saw Angel’s shocked expression and asked:

“What’s the matter Angel? You know her?”

“Oh no.” Angel replied. “I’ve heard of her. It’s troubling that you had to encounter her at a young age.”

“Yeah she was a real headcase.” Touka said. “I’m pissed to hear that she’s back.”

“Me too.” Ayato agreed. Touka and Ayato made eye-contact for a split second before Touka looked away and Ayato continued.

* * *

Diane didn’t seem to take his threat seriously as she laughed at him, her smile growing wider.

“I can’t blame you. If it weren’t for my younger cousin, then I would of had a fantastic dinner. Speaking of which,” she put her hand over her brows and squinted, her eyes looking back and forth as if she was looking for something, “where is Shuu and that sister of yours, Touka. You guys were stuck together like glue. Unless,” she then put the back of her hand to her forehead and gave an exaggerated look of sadness. “the three of you split up! Oh, how troubling, this is simply awful. Looks like they didn’t care about you enough to stick around you.”

“That’s not it!” Ayato shouted. “Tsukiyama is a two-faced bastard who turned his back on us and I left my dumb sister, so I could gain more power.”

“Oh, is that it?” she asked as she drummed her pointer finger at the bottom of her lip. “Well, I hope you don’t plan on getting power from here.” She gestured to the ongoing battle behind him. “Aogiri Tree was mighty yes, but even the mighty fall to the greater power. Looks like you should have stayed at home with your sis, instead of joining an organization that was going to be brought to its knees.”

“Shut it!” Ayato barked and pointed an accusing finger at Diane. “Aogiri might fall tonight, but I’m still not defeated. I will continue to gain more power and once I do, it will only be a matter of time before I crush you and everyone on your side. And trust me when I say it won’t be too long before that happens, and I will take great joy in watching you die.” At this Diane seemed to beam and she put her hands on her hips.

“Well, then I guess I can’t let you leave then, can I.” she sighed and ran her fingers through her dark pink hair. “It’s been fun catching up, but I’ve been given a job. Retrieve the son of Arata Kirishima, Ayato Kirishima.” Her bright blue eyes became dark and were replaced with gleaming crimson irises. The space between her shoulder blades erupted in a gush of blood and Rc cells as her koukaku kagune was released. It began to form and solidify and take the shape of a long dark red blade that covered her left arm and looked similar to a large kitchen knife. “Get ready!” she sang as her smile grew once more. “Because this time Shuu isn’t here to protect you from me.” Ayato growled and his kakugan sprung forth as his back began to bubble up.

“I don’t need him to protect myself from you.” Diane chuckled.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

She lunged, jumping off from the ledge and sending herself at Ayato with her kagune aimed at him; a large grin on her face. Ayato formed his kagune and brought it in front of himself. Diane’s blade crashed into Ayato’s wing and he stumbled back due to the force. Diane laughed as she came at him with a fierce set of slashes from her dark red blade. He was on the defense dodging and blocking every one of his opponent’s attacks. He jumped backwards to avoid a slash that would have cleaved him in two.

While in the air he crystalized his kagune and unleashed a large barrage of dark purple shards. To his surprise Diane looked at the barrage of crystals with her smile still present of her face. Her koukaku kagune dematerialized in a heartbeat as she focused all her energy on dodging. She laughed as she flipped and weaved through the dangerous shards with agility that most ghouls did not possess. As he landed back on the ground he took his gaze off her for a split second. When he looked back up he was stunned when he saw she was gone. He was suddenly sent tumbling forward after a moment of confusion, by a blow to his backside. He grabbed onto the concrete to stop himself from moving and stared bewildered at Diane who was standing in the place he had been moments before.

“How wonderful Ayato-kun!” she said smiling. “Your kagune is absolutely amazing, though there is always room for improvement.” Her smile was still present on her face as her koukaku materialized and charge at Ayato at an unnatural speed. He was caught off guard when he dodged her slash only to bee kneed in the gut. He coughed violently and nearly fell over. Diane was already preparing another attack and he could only bring up his arms to protect himself as Diane’s blade went straight through his arm. He grunted as he collided against the concrete. He hissed when he looked down at his wounded arm. Above him Diane laughed and clapped her hands together.

“See, what did I tell you?” She said in an almost scolding manner. “You needed Shuu before and you need him now.” She then made a smug face. “If only you had your big sister with you, maybe you could actually escape your fate.”

“He doesn’t need his sister.” A familiar voice rang out and was promptly followed up by a set of four red tentacles launching towards Diane. She gave a fearful cry and leaped backwards, out of the way of the lethal kagune. She stared wide-eyed as a figure came down from above and landed in a crouch in front of Ayato. Kaneki brought himself to stand and his rinkaku dissipated in a red mist. He turned to face Diane and his terrifying mask greeted her. “He has me.” Ayato’s eyes narrowed when he saw Kaneki.

“I knew someone was spying on us.” he sneered as he stood up and walked to stand beside Kaneki. “Who would have known it was you Eyepatch?” Kaneki ignored Ayato’s words and focused on the she -ghoul in front of them.

“You know her, how?” he questioned.

“Don’t worry about that.” Ayato replied holding his wounded arm. “We need to get out of here alive first and then we can talk.” He also focused on his opponent that was ahead of him. Diane stared aghast at Kaneki and was basically vibrating. Her kakugan retreated leaving her bright blue eyes that were the size of pinpricks. She brought her shaking hands to her face and dug her nails into her cheek bones. The aura coming off of her was of a fangirl meeting her idol, but there was a dark undertone in her blue eyes.

“Ken Kaneki.” She said her voice barley above a whisper. “We knew you were here, but I never thought you would cross paths with me.” Kaneki raised his eyebrow at this.

“You know me?” he asked. She nodded fiercely and gave an exaggerated gasp.

“Of course, I know you.” She said pointing a shaky finger at Kaneki. “You’re the one Shuu adores.” Kaneki was taken aback by this.

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?” He asked; a tinge of anger lacing his voice. Diane laughed.

“I sure do. You see we’ve been watching you, all of you, and what caught my eye was the way Shuu treats you. He works for you, cares for you, fights for you, _lives_ for you. It’s quite… heart pounding, it’s like he gets off of your being. Though I can’t blame him.” Her pupils narrowed, and she ran her tongue over her upper lip as she eyed Kaneki.

“You do smell absolutely appetizing, being a half-ghoul, even if you’re not a natural one. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken a bite out of you just to see what your sweet flesh tastes like. But the way he looks at you says it all. I can only wish for someone to look at me the way he looks at you. Full of want, admiration, _love_.” She chuckled and wrapped her arms around herself. She swayed back and forth and looked up at the dark clouded sky with a dreamy look. “Oh, I feel all tingly just thinking about it.”

* * *

Kaneki hadn’t said a single word during the entire retelling of the fall of Aogiri. He still didn’t talk when he felt multiple eyes focus on him. Touka narrowed her eyes at Kaneki and said:

“Is Tsukiyama your boyfriend or something?” she asked bluntly. Kaneki’s brows lowered, and his cheeks flushed slightly.

“No, he’s not.” He sputtered. “He’s an associate and he uses his sword to help me.” At this Touka raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“His “sword” huh?” Angel put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from laughing while Ayato didn’t hold back his laughter. Kaneki’s face exploded red and he hands clenched into fists.

“You know that’s not what I meant Touka-chan!” he said with his teeth clenched. He then crossed his arms and looked down at the ground. “This conversation is stupid. Ayato continue, now.” Ayato shot a smug look at Kaneki but didn’t mess with him and continued as told.

* * *

Kaneki’s kakugan flashed and he took an aggressive step forward.

“Who are you?” he hissed. Diane stopped swaying and looked at Kaneki with a surprised look.

“Oh, you don’t know, that’s a shame I thought Shuu would have at least mentioned me.” She grabbed her dress and gave a curtsy. “I am Diane Lee Tsukiyama, older cousin to your beloved Shuu Tsukiyama.” She looked up at Kaneki and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but sadly we can’t mingle further.” She stood up straight and began to twirl a lock of hair around her finger. “Like I said before I have a job to do. Retrieve the Black Rabbit.” She pointed to Ayato then she pointed to Kaneki. “Though for you I’m not really sure.” Her kakugan flared back to life and her kagune formed over the arm she had pointed at Kaneki. “Shuu will be very upset if he found out I devoured you for myself. I’m wondering if I should spare you so, he can have the pleasure of eating you himself.” She chucked when she saw the angered expression Kaneki made behind his mask.

“I was also thinking if I should spare you.” Kaneki said in a calm voice that was contradicting to his fierce demeanor. “When you said you were related to Tsukiyama-san, I wondered if I shouldn’t kill you for his sake. But then I thought, would he really care if I killed a horrid swine like you?” Diane’s smile widened, but the first hint of anger showed on her face.

“Oh, you are so mine.”

Kaneki took a glance at Ayato and even though the ukaku was wounded, Kaneki saw the fight in his crimson eyes. His rinkaku kagune sprung to life and the red appendages pointed themselves at his opponent. Diane’s expression burst into pure joy when she saw Kaneki’s kagune. She sprinted forward crying:

“A rinkaku, how wonderful!”

Kaneki didn’t wait for Diane to come to him. He too charged forward and sent his four tentacles to attack Diane. Diane effortlessly dodged the attack and swung her blade to slice one of the assaulting appendages. She slipped past the other three tentacles and was able to cut into Kaneki’s side. He didn’t show any signs of pain, but, looked on in disgust as Diane licked off his blood droplets that had landed around her mouth. Ayato’s leg connected with her side and sent her stumbling. She winced from the pain and raised her blade just in time to block Ayato’s follow up attack.

She strained slightly at keeping his kagune at bay. She lashed out with her hand and viciously scratched Ayato across his face with her nails and he leaned back slightly. Diane took this chance to kick him in the chest and sent him skidding back. Her small victory was shattered when Kaneki’s kagune smashed into her abdomen. She was sent flying backwards and she coughed up a gout of blood. She collided with the ground and rolled onto her side. She groaned and weakly got to her knees, her arm around her wounded stomach.

“I walked right into that one.” She chuckled weakly. She looked up at Kaneki and Ayato, a bloody smile across her face. “I knew I should have stayed focused, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. At least Shuu won’t be mad at me since I didn’t kill his jewel.” she laughed at the angered expression Kaneki made. “What’s the matter don’t believe what I say about your sword? Well, it’s too bad really, I hoped you enjoyed your time with your knight because he’s not going to be with you anymore.”

“What the hell do you mean?!” Kaneki questioned angered.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, nothing will matter because with the fall of Aogiri nothing will stop us from crushing you and all your-“ she was cut off when Kaneki’s kagune slammed into her side and sent her into the building, breaking the building wall with a loud boom.

“She was getting on my last nerve.” Kaneki grumbled and then turned to Ayato. “C’mon let’s get out of here.” He then spun around and sprinted out of the base Ayato not far behind. It wasn’t too long before the sound of battle was over shadowed by the sound of thunder and the first drops of rain began to fall.

* * *

“And that’s how it went.” Ayato finished. It was silent all around. Yoshimura seemed to fade, and he let out a deep sigh. Yomo didn’t have any physical reaction, but inside he was thinking. When none of the two leaders said anything, Kaneki spoke up.

“Angel-chan, you have the same markings as the ghouls that took over Aogiri, care to explain.”

“Oh, yes.” Angel said clearing her throat. “Well, you see the two ghouls you saw were from the U.S. and as you already know claim to be royalty. The King pretty much explained his entire plan and his motives, but I have no idea how long he’s been here. As for the tattoos…” Angel paused and rubbed her hand over her tattoos. “They are- _we_ are not normal ghouls as you obviously saw, but I don’t know exactly what we are. I was never told about the Royals’ power or my own. So, I’m afraid I can’t be of much help.” There was silence once again until Touka spoke up.

“Yoshimura-san what do we do now?” The manager didn’t respond. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be spacing out. Touka was about to speak again, but Yomo beat her too it.

“Yoshimura-san and I will figure something out.” He walked forward and placed a hand on Yoshimura’s shoulder. “For now, you and Angel will go down and continue to work in the café.” He then turned his head to face Ayato and Kaneki. “You two can rest in your rooms or do what ever you want, but don’t do anything stupid. None of you do anything stupid.” He looked around meeting everyone’s eyes once. “Now all of you, move along.”

They did without a word. Ayato and Touka gave a quick glance at each other, but Touka quickly went downstairs with Angel not far behind and Ayato went to his room and slammed the door. Kaneki went into his room as well without a word. He found a book in the room, it was a random book with an author he did not know the name of, but he didn’t care. He then went and laid on the bed, opening the book and started to read. He had been laying there for some time when he realized that he wasn’t actually reading the book.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus on the words in the book. How could he? With all that was going on his mind couldn’t stop to relax and take in a nice book. There were so many questions running inside his head it was so hard to focus on something else. He grumbled and slammed the book closed. He put the book down before standing up from the bed and leaving his room. It didn’t take long for him to walk to Ayato’s room door. He knocked on the door and heard movement coming from behind the door.

“Who the hell is it?!” Ayato’s voice came shouting from behind the door.

“It’s Kaneki.”

“Go away, Eyepatch!” Kaneki wasn’t surprised by Ayato’s response.

“Ayato, I just want to ask you a few questions.”

“Oh, really about what?”

“About… Tsukiyama-san.” There was a pause and the sound of movement was heard again. The door was swung open revealing a surprised Ayato.

“Why in the world would you ask me about Tsukiyama?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“Because I heard Diane talk about how he protected you from herself when you were young, and you said that he turned his back on you. I need an explanation.”

“Well you’re not getting it from me.”

“C’mon Ayato. He’s already keeping stuff from me and I’m getting sick and tired of trying to pry it out of him. I need another source to turn too.”

“No.” Ayato instantly replied and tried to close the door but was stopped when Kaneki put his foot in the doorway.

“Ayato I need to know.” Kaneki said in a low voice.

“Why do you care so much?”

“Because, he’s my sword and want to know who I’m working with. I… I want to be able to trust him.” Ayato was silent as he stared at Kaneki with a calculating look. Surprisingly Kaneki’s expression softened, and his voice became softer.

“Please Ayato I want to be able to help him. I know you don’t have to tell me, but could you please help me out.” As Ayato heard Kaneki’s soft words he felt his expression soften and he gave a low sigh.

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” He opened the door wider and stepped aside for Kaneki to enter. Kaneki walked inside the room and sat down at the table that was close to the floor. Ayato closed the door and sat on the other side of the table. He sighed and rested his arms on the table. He took a quick glance at Kaneki before he started talking.

“I knew, Tsukiyama when I was younger. Around when I was eight years-old. He was kind of like our babysitter, but he didn’t treat us like babies, for the most part. He wasn’t exactly nice to us, but he did care for us when ever my dad… went out at night. I actually saw him as a brother figure, though now all those feelings I had for him are long dead now. Believe me when I say I could care less if he was dead.”

“I heard you say, that he was a two-faced bastard.” Kaneki said showing no reaction to Ayato’s words. “What did you mean by two-faced?”

“Well, even though I liked him I could tell there was something off about him. It was either the way he presented himself or the way he looked at other people that would make me feel uncomfortable. In his spare time, he would read books about ghouls and fighting, and he would eat a lot, and I mean a lot. He always ate every time he came to our house, I soon got used to it and didn’t think anything else of it. I didn’t realize what he was eating when I was younger. But now I know that he was eating ghoul meat.”

“Ghoul meat?” Kaneki said with a raised eyebrow. Ayato nodded.

“Yep. That’s all he ever ate, though he didn’t seem to enjoy eating it, like he does today with human meat. I don’t get why he ate only ghoul meat. It’s not like he can gain a kakuja with his bloodline.” Kaneki tapped his finger on the table as he processed the information.

“I see.” He said. “Was he ever… violent?”

“Violent?” Ayato said taken slightly off guard by the question.

“Yes. Have you ever seen him lash out, get into a fight, use his kagune?” Ayato put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment.

“He had scared off a bunch of bullies when they messed with me and I did see his kagune a couple of times. Though the only time I saw him fight somebody was when he fought off Diane when she tried to eat my sister and I.”

“What was his kagune like?”

“It looked like a violet sword or a long ribbon, depending on what he was using his kagune for.”

“That’s all.”

“Yes, that’s all.”

“Are you sure.”

“Yes, well now that I’m actually thinking about he did have a set of quinque daggers, no idea how he got a hold of them though. He let me play with one, one time though my dad walked in the room when I was about to throw it. That situation did not turn out well.” Kaneki’s eye narrowed and his mouth became a thin line.

“Are you lying?” he asked sternly. Ayato was taken aback by the other’s words.

“No. Why the hell would I be lying?” he asked with an edge to his voice.

“You could be trying to cover up the truth.”

“No, I’m not. Why would you doubt me?”

“Tsukiyama-san could have told you to stay quiet.”

“What are you talking about? The last time I saw Tsukiyama was when we crossed paths when we were both hunting. He didn’t say anything about keeping quiet and just taunted me like the prick he is.”

“Am I supposed to believe that?”

“Yes, you are!” Ayato shouted and slammed his hands on the table. “Really this is what you do after I accepted to help you. I’m starting to regret telling you anything.”

“Just admit that you know the truth and maybe I won’t call you a liar.” Kaneki’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was filled with anger and annoyance.

“What truth? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t you fricken idiot!” Ayato leaned over the table. “Look just tell me what your talking about and I’ll tell you whether I know what you’re talking about.” Kaneki also leaned over the table, his expression twisted by anger.

“I’m saying that you know that Tsukiyama actually has-“ Kaneki was cut off when the door to the room burst open. Both male ghouls turned their attention from each other to the door where Angel stood in the door way with a panicked expression.

“Why didn’t you knock were in the middle of something here!?” Ayato questioned.

“Many apologies for the intrusion,” she said hopping from one foot to the other, “but there is something on the news that Touka wants you two to see. It’s about the Tsukiyama person you mentioned earlier and-“ she didn’t get to finish as Kaneki shot up and nearly knocked her down when he ran past her. Ayato followed with Angel not too far behind. Kaneki sped down the stairs and opened the door into the café. It was later in the day so the café was filled with an orange glow from the setting sun. He walked in and turned his attention to the T.V while Ayato and Angel followed behind him.

The T.V. displayed a female news reporter with the sub heading saying BREAKING NEWS.

 _“Last night the Tsukiyama Family mansion was attacked by a large group of ghouls. It is unknown at what exact time the attack happened, but it is estimated that it occurred around 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.”_ A picture of an older man with black hair and glasses wearing a suit appeared beside the news reporter. _“The CEO of the Tsukiyama family business, Mirumo Tsukiyama, as well as many of the family’s servants were killed in the attack.”_ The picture beside her changed to one of a young man who was quite handsome and had bright violet hair. _“_

 _The son of Mirumo Tsukiyama, and the heir of the Tsukiyama family, Shuu Tsukiyama, is declared missing. It is suspected that he escaped during the attack, investigators have not found a lead to Shuu’s whereabouts. Because Mirumo and Shuu are not present the family business will now be led by Mirumo’s brother-in law, Slade Tsukiyama.”_ The picture changed once more to a man who look similar to Shuu except slightly older with sharper features and had royal purple hair that was neatly with royal purple eyes to match. _“Slade has stopped his original work in order to fill in as head for the Tsukiyama family. Here is what he has to say about this whole situation.”_ The screen then cut to Slade who was standing in front of the Tsukiyama mansion with police officers walking around behind him.

 _“This is truly a tragedy.”_ He said in a saddened voice. _“To think that while I was gone, my family members fell prey to monsters that lurk in the dark. It makes me feel despair. To tell the truth I never really communicated with my brother much, but now I wish I had talked to him more. For him to be taken in from this world in such a nasty way crushes my heart. But there is still hope. My nephew Shuu is still alive, I believe he is. He’s just out there somewhere. Shuu if your seeing this please come home and to everybody else out there if you see him please contact us. There will even be an award given for anybody with factual information about my nephew’s whereabouts. Please help an uncle here and help us find my nephew. Thank you.”_ The screen cut back to the news reporter.

_“This terrible event is being labeled as the Tsukiyama Family Massacre and everything his being done to help the family that fell victim to this terrible tragedy. More on this story once officers have collected more data.”_

Kaneki stared shocked at the television as the news turned to commercials. _“That’s what Diane meant by, Tsukiyama-san wasn’t going to be with me anymore.”_

Irimi and Koma had left the café in order to information the manager of the information, leaving the rest to take in the information.

“That’s not good.” Roma said quietly as she had her hand over her mouth.

“Huh, looks like the bastard got what was coming to him.” Nishiki said with a smirk.

“That’s not very nice.” Angel said turning to him. “No one deserves to lose their family.”

“No one, but him. Trust me his done some crappy things in the past.”

“That doesn’t matter. He worked with Kaneki as his sword he must be better now. Isn’t that right Kaneki-san?” she turned to him for a response. She didn’t get one. Kaneki hadn’t moved from his position. He continued to stare at the television though the news had already turned off. “Kaneki-san?”  Angel said and tapped him on the shoulder. He still didn’t move, but he mumbled.

“I have to find him.” He then turned around and make his way quickly towards the door. He was stopped by Ayato who grabbed him by the arm. He turned his head to glare at Ayato.

“Where do you think your going?” Ayato asked not letting go of Kaneki’s arm.

“To find Tsukiyama-san. Now let go of me” He tried to tug his arm away like he did last time, but Ayato’s grip was strong.

“You’re not going anywhere right now. Especially not to find Tsukiyama.”

“And why not?” Kaneki tugged again, but Ayato still didn’t release his arm.  

“Because Slade probably has ghouls wondering the streets looking for him. If you go out there, you’ll get caught.”

“And we’re supposed to just leave him out there and let him get captured.”

“Well, ya.” Kaneki tugged his arm so hard that Ayato was dragged forward and he had to let go so, he wouldn’t fall to the ground.

“You may not care what happens to him, but obviously Slade’s trying to get him, and it can’t be for a good reason, so we need to get him first before he does.” He turned to walk to the door.

“Kaneki-kun, stop.” At the sound of Yomo’s voice Kaneki stopped and turned to look at the older ghoul.

“You too huh?” Kaneki sighed.

“I understand you want to find him.” Yomo said walking to stand in front of Kaneki. “But you can’t go out there and find him not yet anyway.” Kaneki went to speak, but Yomo continued. “Don’t worry too much, he is loyal to you. Right now, he is probably trying to find you and I know that’s an easy task for him.” Kaneki let out an angered sigh and crossed his arms. “Besides,” Yomo continued, “he can take care of himself. None of those ghouls will be able to touch him.” He then turned his body, so he could address the Anteiku employees. “We are going to close early; the manager says so. Everyone clean up and then head home for the day and get some rest. Your all going to need it.”

* * *

Slade watched from the front porch of the mansion as the last cop left the estate. His bright smile that he had been wearing all day faded and he ran his fingers through his purple hair. He scratched under his right eye and felt a few flakes of makeup peel off which covered his red scar. He had been around humans all day. They snooped around the mansion looking for clues. Of course, he had taken out all the ghoul corpses and ghoul blood cleaned up, leaving only human remains and blood around. It wasn’t that hard to fool them into thinking that the prestigious Tsukiyama family were human. Though he had had to resist the urge to lash out at the humans when they grilled him with questions, but it was to be expected. Even though he was able to successfully fool the humans, he was still upset.

Yes, he had successfully taken over as the new head of the family and yes, he had gained the trust of the humans, but he really didn’t care about that. What really mattered to him was getting his nephew. He had been enraged the night of his take over when Shuu had slipped through his fingers. Though he tried to think on the bright side of things. At least he gotten to sit down and have a “meal” with Shuu. He walked down the steps of the porch and then began to walk to the back of the estate. He treaded lightly on the grass until he made it to the back of the estate. He stopped and stared at the large object at his feet. When the humans had began to mess with it had actually yelled at them to get away from it, but the humans had understood why he had yelled at them. The sound of footsteps came from behind him and he smirked as Lydia came to stand beside him.

“Everything is in order general.” She said nonchalantly and stared at the same object Slade was staring at. “The humans don’t suspect anything of us and all the servants that survived were either killed if they were still resistant or summited to us and will obey your every command.”

“What about Aogiri Tree?” Slade asked not looking at Lydia.

“King Rhys and Princess Lilith were successful in their takeover. The leader, the One-Eyed Owl, and her two subordinates, Tatara and Noro, were disposed of and all surviving members of the organization have pledged their allegiance to the King.”

“What about Diane, did she complete her mission?”

“Unfortunately, not general. She was unsuccessful in retrieving Black Rabbit and it was also reported that Eyepatch escaped with him.”

“That is unfortunate. I had hoped to see little Ayato again and catch up with him. Kaneki though, it’s upsetting that he still breathes; he is not fit for my nephew. Speaking of which.” He turned his head to look at Lydia and Lydia turned her head as well. “How is the search for Shuu going, he couldn’t have gotten far?”

“Our search parties have not found him yet, general. Though one of the family condos has evidence that Tsukiyama-san had broken into it and taken stuff from it. It won’t be long until we find him, please do not worry, general.”

“Worry?” Slade said and gave a small chuckle. “I’m not the least bit worried that we are not going to find him.” He then looked back at the object imbedded in the ground. “He’s going to come to me.” Lydia also returned her gaze back to the object.

“General may I ask what you wish to do with your nephew once we catch him?” Slade gave a small curl of his lips.

“I’ll let it be a surprise.” They then stood there in silence and continued to stare at the object. The object on the ground was rounded and made out of a grey marble. On the tombstone were the words:

_Here Lies_

_Carina Tsukiyama_

_Mother, Sister, Warrior_

* * *

The night was much quieter and calmer than the previous night. The 20th ward was the quietest and Anteiku slept soundly in the night. The tranquility of the night was disturbed when a figure landed on the café’s roof. If crept silently and swiftly to the side of the building. Its claws grip the wall as he moved to one of the windows. It gripped the bottom of the window and pulled up. It smiled as it slid up effortlessly and the white curtains on the other side began to sway as the cold night air was let into the room. The figure climbed in the room without a sound and then closing in behind itself. It was in a bedroom and in the bed a small body slept quietly. The figure quickly, but quietly went to the side of the bed and loomed over the unconscious body.

Shuu grinned as he saw a sleeping Kaneki before him, the stitches of his face straining. Kaneki looked so soft and angelic with his white hair and pale skin. Shuu still grinning climbed into the bed next to Kaneki, his knees rubbing up against Kaneki’s back. His violet eyes gleamed and he ran his tongue of his teeth as he stared down at the half-ghoul.

_“I found you, **mi amour**.” _

Shuu reached out a hand and began to slowly pull down the covers reveal more of Kaneki’s body. He curled up slightly from the cold but didn’t wake up. Shuu grabbed the bottom of Kaneki’s nightshirt and began to pull it up to show Kaneki’s muscular abdomen. Shuu held back a chuckle as he began to bring his body closer to Kaneki’s to the point where he could feel the warmth from the younger’s body. He ran his hands over the rippling muscles and tender flesh with a grin. He brought his face to the other’s stomach and took in a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of the half-ghoul. He grinned further showing his white teeth.

He pressed his mouth against the smooth flesh and dragged his wet tongue over the pale skin, humming softly. Kaneki stirred, his expression twisting in disturbance and he opened his mouth to take in a loud gasp of air. Shuu put his hand over Kaneki’s mouth, stifling any noise that came from him. Kaneki began to stir further and groaned, the sound coming out mumbled due to Shuu's hand. Shuu brought his head away from Kaneki and brought his lips to Kaneki’s ear.

“Hush, my dear.” He cooed. “No, need for you to stir, I won’t be long.” He used his free hand to reach inside his black coat and pull out a syringe that was half filled with a thick liquid that was a dark crimson with bright red bubbles; the liquid moved with the motion similar to a lava lamp. He plunged the syringe into Kaneki’s neck and put only a little of the fluid into Kaneki’s system. Kaneki jerked and Shuu had to use his weight to hold the younger one down. His eyes almost flickered opened and his breathing hitched. Though as soon as he had moved his body he quickly began to relax and loosen up while the expression on his face faded and his breathing evened out.

Shuu pulled out the syringe and put his hand off of Kaneki’s mouth. He promptly put the syringe back it his and pulled out another syringe this one was empty. He grinned as he plunged the syringe back into Kaneki’s neck. Kaneki made no movement what so ever as Shuu began to draw his blood. Shuu licked his lips as he pulled the syringe out and watched as blood started to leak out of the small wound. He leaned down and in one swift movement licked up the blood with his tongue. His violet eyes dilated and soon overcome to his ghoul side, turning into a menacing kakugan. He had to keep himself from making any sounds as he swallowed the precious blood. He promptly put the blood-filled syringe into his coat and went back down to licking and rubbing Kaneki’s abdomen.

His tongue glided over the skin not staying in one place as not to let his teeth graze the skin. His hands roamed over the body, his black nails slightly digging into the flesh, but never drawing blood. The scent of Kaneki filling his noise, his being, was intoxicating. It was tender _ghoul_ mixed with sweet _human_. A _male_ veneer with an inner _female_ layer. He had never smelled a scent that was as unique as Kaneki’s. Therefore, he was to be treasured and loved. No one else in the world was as special or as beautiful a being Kaneki was. He stopped admiring Kaneki’s abdomen when he noticed that Kaneki was still bleeding from his neck. He smiled and brought his mouth to the neck.

This time he licked up the blood slowly, reveling in the glorious taste. He stopped and then began to suck on the small wound. His tongue promptly lapped up any blood left, but that didn’t stop him from continuing. He couldn’t help but open his mouth wider, his teeth grazing over the skin. He could do it. He could take a bite out of Kaneki. All he had to do was close his mouth. His jaws slowly came together, catching Kaneki flesh in between. Before he could break the skin, he pulled back his head and his teeth clamped down on his tongue.

_“No, you can’t do that you idiot! Get in control of yourself!”_

The slightest sound of movement reached his ears and his head shot up towards the closed door. Someone was coming. He had to go. He frowned slightly and his kakugan retreated. He carefully pulled down Kaneki’s shirt and patted it down. He got off of Kaneki and pulled the covers back over his body. He gave a small smile as he looked down at the other. He ran his finger’s through Kaneki’s white hair then leaned down and planted a small kiss on Kaneki’s forehead.

“Sweet dreams my precious, Kaneki-kun.” With that goodbye, Shuu swiftly made his way to the window and promptly opened it. He took one quick glance behind him before crawling back outside and closing the window behind him. He became a dark shadow of the night and in the blink of an eye he was gone. The door to Kaneki’s room opened slightly and through the crack a single grey eye peered through. Yomo looked around the dark room and noticed the astray curtains. His eye narrowed and a small sigh left him as he slowly closed the door.


	6. The Pain Hunger Brings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I apologize for the huge delay on the story. I just got into high school and writing time has become limited. I made this Shuu-centric chapter for all you Shuu fans out there, I hope you enjoy it. Happy Reading!  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

“Oji-san, please stop!” Shuu sobbed, pleading with his uncle. His uncle’s fingers were violently gripping chunks of his violet hair as he dragged him through the dark hallway. Shuu whimpered and cried as he squirmed weakly to try and get out of his uncle’s firm grasp. That only caused his uncle to tug harder and his scalp struggled to stay intact. His exposed skin painfully rubbed against the rough wooden floor. It would have pulled off his skin if he weren’t a ghoul.

This was happening because he had been caught eating human flesh. After his uncle made him devour his first ghoul, he was only allowed to eat ghoul flesh. He hated the taste of ghouls. They were bitter and course, unlike the savory and tender flesh of humans. He longed for the taste of human flesh, so badly that his mouth would water every time he passed a human on the street.

When he had complained to his father about only having to eat ghoul meat, his father had bent down and pulled him into an embrace and had said he was sorry. His father hadn’t done anything else about it, though he didn’t blame him. He never blamed his father for anything his uncle did to him.

Because he wasn’t going to get any outside help, he had to get human flesh himself. Sneaking into the storage room, where they put human carcasses before they were prepared for consumption and taking small bites out of them. He always savored the taste and made sure to cover any evidence of him ever being in the storage room.

Sadly, it didn’t matter how well he hid his tracks because in the end his uncle found out what he had been doing. He had gotten away with sneaking food for so long that he had forgotten one crucial point. His uncle always found out his secrets. No matter how big or small. He had been stupid to think he would get away with such a defying act. 

To make matters even worse his appetite was growing at a sickeningly rate. At the beginning when he had started eating ghoul meat, he found his body not needing as much food as it did before. He was almost on a normal ghoul diet, eating about two bodies a month. But that didn’t last long as he soon found himself craving more and more. That was probably a contributing factor to how he got caught, sneaking into the storage room more than he should have had. His stomach ached painfully as it begged for more food and he fought against clutching his stomach and curling into a ball. He was so hungry. Tears streamed down his face as he gave another cry.

“Oji-san, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please let me go!”

“Stop, crying!” his uncle hissed, “You’re not a baby anymore. You’re a big boy now, you know you disobeyed me and now you’re going to get punished for it!”

“Please, I won’t ever eat humans again I swear. Please believe me! I beg you—" the breath was knocked out of him when he was slammed hard into the ground. He was then violently pulled up as his uncle continued to drag him.

“What did I say about begging, Shuu? It makes you weak and puts you beneath other ghouls. You need to stop whining and take your punishment.” Out of the corner of his blurry eyes he could see the large metal door to the training room. He began struggling harder and hyperventilating. His stomach gave another rumble for attention and he felt anger rise in him. Without thinking he yelled:

“Why do I need to eat ghouls anyway, it’s so stupid! It’s not like it’ll do anything for me!” he instantly regretted those words as soon as they came out of his mouth. His uncle stopped walking and the grip on his hair tightened. His blood froze. “Oji-san, I didn’t mean—” before he could finish his sentence his uncle slammed him hard onto the wall and Shuu felt something inside him crack under the force. He shrunk back as far as he could, which wasn’t very far, as his uncle’s piercing crimson eyes got closer to his terror filled violet ones.

“Listen here boy, I don’t care if the taste of ghouls isn’t to your liking. You are going to eat it whether you like it or not. Feasting upon ghouls is going to make you stronger and eradicate all weakness from you. I hope you enjoyed taking a bite out of that man’s arm, because that was last morsel of human flesh you are ever going to eat. From now on I’m going to make sure all you eat is ghoul. From now on until the day you day, you are going to be a cannibal, and you are going to be one because I tell you to.”

Shuu held back a cry. His uncle kicked open the training room door and roughly threw him in. He could feel chunks of his hair be pulled out of his head as he came crashing onto the cold tile floor. He weakly looked up to see his uncle standing in the doorway.

“Now, for your punishment, I’m going to let you starve in here until I feel like letting you out. You cry about being hungry now just wait until your starving. I heard some ghouls go insane from lack of food and end up devouring their own flesh. I wonder if that will happen to you.” A wicked smile formed across his face. “Get cozy, because you are going to be here for a long time.” Shuu felt his heart sink and he tried to pick himself up. It was useless as his stomach gave another cry of pain and he collapsed back on the ground.

“No, please!” The door slammed shut and the lock clicked into place.

Shuu curled in on himself and began to cry.

He was scared. With every minute passing the pain in his abdomen was increasing. He tried to focus on the cold tiles underneath him and counting the hexagons on the dome ceiling, but the creeping hunger always made itself present. It soon rose to a level that was nearly unbearable. He found himself rolling on the floor from side to side, trying to ease the pain in his body. But he was only in a position for a short amount of time as the pain swiftly returned with a vengeance. His throat hurt from crying and he could barely see through the tears in his eyes.

He had lost track of time a while ago when pain was the only thing filling his mind, his body. He curled into a tight ball, his body shaking as if he were freezing. His teeth grinded together and he banged the side of his head on the tile floor to try and knock himself out. Sadly, it didn’t work, and he was left with a coursing headache.

A strain in his chest caused him to cough violently, only making the pain in his throat worse. He felt bile rise in his throat, bitter and rotten. It wasn’t long before he hacked up the substance in his throat onto the floor. His was horrified when he saw it wasn’t blood.

He could feel something coming. Something deep inside of him clawing its way out and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. His skin began to crawl, and it felt like his body was eating itself. His back began to ach and he felt something writhe beneath the skin. A banging in his head got stronger, every time his heat beat. The vison in the corners of his eyes were starting to get dark and getting darker. His blood burned, and his back started bubble up as something underneath started to break through.

He was so scared.

He threw his head back and gave a blood curdling scream as what ever was in him burst out with the ferocity of a starving animal. The world went black.

* * *

Shuu had always had a problem with his hunger. Having the appetite of five full grown ghouls and always wanting more even after that, was a hard way for a ghoul to live. When he was extremely young, he never really understood why he had such a ravenous appetite. He soon came to know the reason behind his extreme hunger and accepted the fact. However, with his immense hunger came some unwanted side effects. The pain that would come from an empty stomach was worse than any torture his uncle had put him through. He came to fear hunger, seeing it as the ultimate form of pain and the bane of his existence. He made sure to always eat enough food, to keep the hunger away and the pain it brought with it.

In his childhood he had only been allowed to feast upon ghoul flesh by order of his uncle. At first, he had thought his uncle had made him eat only ghoul meat so, he could gain a kakuja. That theory was proven incorrect as he never gained such a hideous mutation and his DNA structure forbid it from physically happening. Not coming up with any other good explanation, he just assumed that his uncle made him eat ghoul meat to be cruel. That theory wasn’t too far-fetched.

The positive side of ghoul meat was that it kept him satisfied for a longer period of time, but the negative side of it was that it always left a bitter taste in his mouth. Because of this he never enjoyed eating.

The ghoul flesh made him cringe and want to hurl out his insides. Though as he ate more and more, he became tolerant of it and he could eat it in large amounts without grimacing, but he never truly enjoyed it. His body did. His body would tear apart the flesh happily, but he himself never felt any satisfaction from eating. It was more of a task to stay alive rather than an act to satisfy. The thought of eating was mundane and made his moral self, whatever was left of it, cry out in objection.

That was until his uncle was killed.

His life completely changed when the demon was slain. He was allowed to make his own choices and be himself. He got rid of the ghoul his uncle had turned him into and let his true self be free. And the first thing he did was eat human flesh. He still remembers the rush of satisfaction and pure ecstasy it gave him. Now being able to consume human flesh without consequence he got creative with his meals. Seeing all he could do to change and manipulate the flavors humans possessed. It felt like being in heaven.

That’s how the infamous Gourmet came to be. An S-rated ghoul, that turned his victims into succulent meals, and he was proud of it. He also found a way to control his hunger without gorging himself with food. It helped him be a less lethal ghoul, to the CCG and thus kept his family safe from their intruding eyes. He may have wanted to be known as a deadly ghoul, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try and gain the unwanted attention of the ghoul-killing organization.

But recently… he could feel his appetite rising within him.

After a, supposed to be glorious, meal he found himself not fully satisfied and wanting more. He had shrugged it off at first, assuming that all the work he was doing in Kaneki’s group was causing his body to be in a higher need of sustenance. He crushed the doubt at the back of head with this assumption and made sure to eat a few eyeballs along with his monthly meal. However, that didn’t seem to be enough.

The pain would come unexpected and last for different periods of time. It started small at first, dull cramps in his abdomen that he could shake off and ignore without cringing. Then it turned to sharp pangs in his side that caused him to squirm in his seat and his steps to shake. It didn’t take long for the pain to become unbearable. Unbearable pain ragged in his abdomen as if claws were inside him tearing apart his insides. It caused his body to lock up into a ball and his skin to crawl.

This is how he found himself here. Leaned up against the wall in the hallway. He was on the floor hunched over with his arms wrapped around his stomach. The arch of his back rubbing up against the wall. His violet hair fell over his face as he took in shaky breaths through gritted teeth.

This shouldn’t be happening right now. The hunger pains never happened while he was in the group’s home. Luckily for him, Hinami was asleep in her room, Banjon with his cronies were cleaning up the basement, and Kaneki… last time he saw him he was relaxing in his chair in the living room reading a book. He was thankful for that. He couldn’t let anyone see him like this. In a vulnerable pathetic state. This was one of the longer lasting pains and he absolute hated it.

_Why doesn’t it go away?!_

_Why won’t it go away?!_

_This shouldn’t be happening to me!_

_Just leave me alone!_

_Go away._

_Go away!_

_Go away!!!_

_It hurts so much._

_I’m so HUNGRY!_

_I NEED TO EAT!_

**_WE NEED TO EA—_ **

“Flower man why are you on the ground?” the voice instantly brought him back to reality. He snapped his head up and he was almost relieved at who he saw standing above him.

Hinami was dressed in her night gown. She looked like she had just woken up from sleep as her hair was in disarray. Her big brown eyes were filled with worry.

“Are you okay? I’ve never seen you like this.” She asked taking a step closer to him. Hinami was good. She was too innocent and naïve to understand what was happening, unlike the others who would have called him out for his weakness. He could still make it through this without the others knowing. He forced himself to ignore the pain and straightened himself up. He looked at her and gave a stunning smile.

“Little lady, I am perfectly fine. I’m just resting is all.” He said with his usual flare, though he couldn’t stop the corners of his smile from twitching. Hinami didn’t seem to buy it.

“Are you sure? You look like your hurting.”

“I can assure you I am—” he was cut off by searing pain that coursed through his entire body. He keeled over clutching his stomach once more and biting his tongue to hold back a scream. After the shockwave of agony, the pain in his abdomen subsided, leaving a dull ache. It was too late though. Hinami gave a worried gasp and crouched down next to him.

“You are hurt! Let me get, Onii-Chan I know he can help you.” She stood up and went to go run down the hall into the living room.

“Wait!” he said panicking and grabbed her by the wrist. She stopped and turned to look at him, worry still present on her face. “Don’t get, Kaneki-kun. He doesn’t need to be involved. I can handle this myself, dear.”

“But you’re hurting?”

“Yes, I know, but I know how to fix it.” He readjusted his grip, so it wasn’t as tight on the little ghoul’s wrist. “I’m just hungry is all. I’m going to get something to eat, but you can’t tell Kaneki, understand?” her expression twisted from worried to conflicted.

“Why? Do you not want Onii-chan to help you?”

“No, its just that…” he bit his lip thinking of something to say. His eyes lit up when he found an excuse. “The sun has already set, and I know Kaneki needs his rest. He mustn’t freight about me when I can take care of myself. All I need is a little bite, I won’t be very long.” That was a bold-faced lie. He wanted more than a bite. No, _needed_ more than a bite. Hinami seemed to buy it as her worried expression faltered.

“Alright, I won’t tell Onii-chan if you say so.”

“ _Merci!_ Now if you could do one small favor for me and help me up.” He normally would never ask for help, but he didn’t want Hinami to see him pathetically try to stand up.

“Okay.” She said gripping onto his hand that held her wrist. When he tried to stand, she pulled on his wrist to help him up. Even though she was small she provided enough strength for him to pick himself up, using the wall as extra support.

“Thank you, little lady, you have been much help. Now off to bed with you, its late and you’re up past your bedtime.” He then gently turned her around and softly nudged her towards the stairs. She went to the stairs and walked up a couple of them before stopping and looking at him again. “Go on now. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll be back tomorrow and bring you flowers.”

“Really?!” Her face lit up at that and her brown eyes sparkled. Her worried expression immediately melting away into joy. “Thank you, Flower man.”

_“Here, Ayato- bō_ _I got this for you.”_

_Shuu handed the small child, a black stuffed rabbit that had big floppy ears and a red nose. The boy excitedly grabbed the stuffed animal and held it in front of him with a gasp. “Your sister already has one, so I thought I would get you one so, you could sleep better at night.”_ ‘And stop bugging me,’ _he wanted to add, but decided against it, instead he said: “You better not lose it because I’m not getting you another one.”_

_“I would never lose this, little guy!” The boy exclaimed holding the rabbit tight to his chest. A big smile was on his face and the rabbit’s big ears flopped up and down. “I love him so, much.” Ayato looked up at him with big blue eyes that sparkled full of joy._

_“Thank you, Nii-chan!”_

Shuu promptly blinked away the old memory and could only nod to Hinami, who hurriedly made her way up the stairs. He brushed off the sad feeling that swelled in his chest and made his way towards the back door, making sure his footsteps were silent.

 Once he made it out the back door without a single noise, he went to a pile of boxes hidden in the darkness of an alleyway. He opened the box and pulled out a large black trench coat that had a makeshift hood attached to it and a black scarf. He took off his blazer and neatly folded it before putting inside the box. He put on the black trench coat and the thick fabric kept him protected from the cold night air and wrapped the scarf around his neck, making sure to cover his mouth, but not his nose. His stomach gave another grumble and that was his que to get going. He threw up his hood and made his way into the creeping shadows of the night

…

He pulled his hood down farther to better conceal his face as he stalked the alleys for prey. He didn’t have his mask on and that was on purpose.

What he planned to do was uncharacteristic of the elegant Gourmet and he didn’t want to be traced back to the inhumane crime. Also, not wanting to tarnish his reputation with ghouls on the street and within his own group, though it wasn’t as if it was good to begin with.   

Truth be told he didn’t know how this night was going to end. His mind was hazy and the ache in his stomach clouded his judgement further. It didn’t matter who he ate, he just needed to eat something. As he stumbled down a long alley way the scent of human flesh wafted into his nose. His mouth began to water under the scarf and his kakugan took over his eyes like a creeping shadow. 

At the end of the alleyway the silhouette of a man stood. He was on his phone with his back to him, a bag of groceries was held in his other hand. Shuu couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips. He crouched down and swiftly made his way towards the preoccupied man. He moved with incredible speed and yet he made no sound. He didn’t even give the man a fighting chance as he descended upon him.

Shuu covered his mouth from behind and put him in a headlock. All the noise the man made was a shocked gasp before Shuu crushed his trachea with little effort. The man went still with the groceries and phone clattering to the ground. Shuu threw the corpse further into the alley to keep out of sight.

He didn’t wait a second longer. Throwing his scarf and hood off, he dove onto the body and tore open its gut with his nails to dig into fresh intestines. The sweet taste of human innards left him in a state of bliss and relief. He swallowed greedily and when the flesh in his mouth was swallowed, he was simply stiff it with more. It soon became messy with the corpses blood covering the ground and his own body as well, but he could care less. He didn’t care that he was eating like a starved animal, he didn’t care that he looked like a crazed monster straight from the gates of hell, he didn’t care that he had the appetite of a _gluttonous pig_.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” the shout caused him to pause in his glorious feast. The blood covered hairs on the back of his stood up as the sound of three pairs of footsteps walked up from behind him. “That was supposed to be our kill, you rat.” The rough male voice said. Shuu frowned as the smell of ghoul mixed in with his meal. He swallowed the meat in his mouth before replying:

“Was it now? That’s a shame for you isn’t it. Well, if you want to have dinner tonight you’re not going to find it here. I suggest you get going.” He smiled and went to continue his meal. He didn’t want to engage in a fight now. Besides he didn’t even think he could with the hazy state he was in.

“That’s not how things work for me.” The ghoul said and Shuu could hear him take a step closer. He put down the flesh in his hands and glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, and how do things work for you?” he asked.

“With ghouls like you, getting crushed under my heel.” At this Shuu’s lips twisted into a small snarl. He ignored the slowly rising hunger and stood up, dusting himself off. Turing around so he could see who dared interrupt his meal. He was met with three ghouls, all male and dressed in dark ratty clothing. The supposed leader of the trio stood taller than him and his gleaming red irises showed that he was ready for a fight. Shuu wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

“Ghouls like me you say?” he let out a mirthless chuckle. “I realize you don’t know who I am but trust me when I say I’m not some ghoul to be pushed around like a nat. Those who do end up dead. Now move along your interrupting my meal.”

“Looks like we got a tough one here fellas.” The lead ghoul said to his associates.

“Little brat thinks he can boss us around.” One of the cronies said smiling with red eyes.

“Not to mention, he is one of those stupid pretty boys too.” The other said. Shuu’s eyes narrowed at the name.

“I would refrain from calling me _‘pretty boy’_ if I were you.” He hissed.

“Ha, what are you going to do if we do,” the lead ghoul said, leaning down to get into Shuu’s face, “ _Pretty. Boy._ ” Shuu stopped himself from attacking there and then, he just wanted them to get out of his face so, he could satisfy his need for food.

“Well, this “pretty boy” is an S-rated ghoul to the CCG and will happily tear your heads off, if you don’t leave him to eat in peace.” The ghouls looked at each other before laughing. Anger festered within him.

“This little, pretty boy sure does think he’s hot stuff, doesn’t he?” one of the cronies said smirking. As the cronies laughed the leader took a step closer to Shuu. They were close enough that the smaller ghoul was basically breathing in the taller ghoul’s wretched scent. He leaned into Shuu’s face and said smiling:

“Now, you listen here pretty boy, we are going to make you beg on your knees for forgiveness and if you try to fight back, well that’s just more fun for us.” He then put his hand on Shuu’s shoulder to try and push him down.

As soon as his fingers grazed Shuu’s black coat, he reeled back screaming as a searing pain made its way up his arm. He stumbled back and gripped his arm tightly. When he looked down at his arm his eyes widened in shock as did the others when they saw the grotesque sight. His hand was missing, by the look of the cut it looked like it had evenly sliced off like a slice of lunch meat. His severed hand lay before him on the ground. They looked up at Shuu, their shocked expressions never fading. Shuu had an angered expression. Just because he didn’t want to fight didn’t mean that he wasn’t afraid to show his dominance.

“That was just a scratch, if you try that again I’ll make sure to take your head.” He whipped his blood covered fingers on his coat, though it didn’t do much. “I hope that proved to you not to interfere with my business.” Another pang of hunger coursed through him and his kakugan flashed. “Now leave, before you become nothing more than a pile of entrails on the ground.” Their shocked expressions quickly morphed into anger.

“You goddamn rat.” The wounded ghoul seethed. “We are going to make you suffer for this.” Shuu could see the rush of Rc cells release before their kagunes were formed. The two cronies released a single red bikaku tail and the lead released a stocky ukaku kagune. Shuu involuntarily took a step back at the violent action. He didn’t want to fight, but he wasn’t about to let himself be pushed around by mongrels. 

“We’re gonna eat you up, pretty boy.” The lead growled his ukaku flaring. 

Shuu didn’t have the focus to form his brilliant sword as his head pounded and his vision was unsteady. He could feel his kakuhou begin to vibrate and writhe with rising Rc cells. He couldn’t picture in his head what to form so he let his primal side take control to form a weapon out of spite. The muscles in his body tensed up and his heart rate increased immensely. His kakugan shone brightly as the flesh on his back began to tear open. 

“Die!”

The primal kagune shot out of his back with a spray of blood and the speed of a bullet. The lethal weapon took the form of three jagged spears that had razor blades at their ends. They resembled his own sword in a way, if he had contorted and twisted it for it to become more ferocious. The other ghouls only had a moment to look surprised before the blades tore into their skulls with ease. They barely made a sound as their brains were shredded and their bodies went limp. Their kagunes dissipated into red mist and he let their corpses fall to the ground. The alleyway was filled with silence.

“So, is this what you do behind my back, Tsukiyama?” a voice sounded stern behind him.

His kagune shot backwards to strike at the person behind the voice. He turned with it, fulling intending to kill the whoever snuck up behind him. The moment his eyes laid upon the new arrival his body froze, but his kagune didn’t. It continued its trajectory, going for its victims’ vitals. Luckily for the supposed to be victim, he was able to shift to the side and the razors only grazed him before imbedding themselves into the ground. Shuu instantly snapped back to his senses and he felt the pit drop out of his stomach.

“K-Kaneki-kun!” he stuttered dumbly.

Kaneki was dressed in his black cloak with an unpleased expression on his face. His eyes showed Shuu his burning anger. Shuu felt his entire being shrink back. His kakugan retracted slightly, not affecting his sclera, but kept his irises a bright crimson. The burning hunger in his gut soothed down to the point where it was none existent. He tried to beak down his kagune, but felt his defensive instinct still coursing through him. Instead he brought the stiff appendages back to him and he awkwardly tried to hide them behind his back but failed miserably as the ends hunched beside him like spider legs.

“W-why, are you here, I thought you didn’t go hunting during this time?” he asked innocently as if he wasn’t drenched in blood.

“I could say the same for you.” Kaneki replied coldly. “Hinami told me that you were out here, but don’t be upset at her. I knew something was up but wanted to be sure. She tried to keep it from me when I questioned her about it but she slipped up on accident.” Kaneki looked Shuu up and down and disdain showed on his face. Shuu felt his face heat up from shame and embarrassment.

“My apologi—”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Kaneki interrupted him taking a step forward. Anger flashed in his eyes and his hands balled into fists. “I let you be my sword and assist me, only for you to turn around and do this.” He gestured to corpses littering the alleyway.

“Go off hunting without talking to me first. Eating whoever you saw on the street and then making a big mess. Let alone you’re doing all of this without your goddamn mask! Are you insane, I can’t believe you would do something like this?! If someone saw your face, they could trace you back to us and get everyone killed. Hinami could have died because of you and she’s only a kid!

“Now, what elaborate excuse will you weave to me to try and get yourself out of this one, because if you can’t I’m kicking you out of the group.” Shuu felt his heart falter and despair fill his chest. He had messed up, he had messed up big time. “Well, I’m waiting.” Kaneki’s hate-filled gaze grew stronger. Shuu didn’t look Kaneki in the eye, like he usually did when he was explaining himself. Instead he stared at the ground in shame and muttered softly:

“I-I’m sorry, Kaneki-kun. I was just really hungry.”

“You think that’s a good excuse for what you did? We all get hungry, it’s a part of being alive.”

“No, not hungry.” Shuu said picking his head up. “Starving. It felt like my insides were being ripped apart and I felt nothing but pain. I needed to eat something or else I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I just couldn’t handle the pain like I’ve been doing. I thought I could handle it, but I gave into my hunger.”

“If you are going through so much pain then why didn’t you come to me? Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course, I trust you Kaneki-kun!” Shuu said losing the stutter in his voice. “It’s just that I... Don’t want you to have to deal with the repercussions of my personal issues. You already have to deal with enough problems, I don’t want to add mine on top of that. I thought I could keep it under wraps, I truly did. I’m sorry I overestimated myself and caused a great inconvenience for you. I’m not as strong as I once was.” Kaneki’s ire filled gaze eased up in the slightest. “I never wanted to do this. I knew it was stupid, but I let it my hunger cloud my better judgement. This shouldn’t be happening to me and yet it is, and I don’t know why! I should be able to control it and yet I let myself give into it!

“I’m so pathetic!” he yelled in anger. The ends of his kagune slammed themselves into the ground with such force that the koukaku shattered upon impact, falling like glass shards to the ground before dissolving into a red mist. He fell to the ground and sat cross-legged with his hands gripping his knees and his head hung low. He let out a series of ragged breaths like he was a child finishing a rant. The tensed muscles in his body laxed and he let out a defeated sigh.

“I’m truly sorry, Kaneki-kun.” He choked out, not bringing his head up to meet Kaneki’s gaze. “I understand that you want to take me out the group and I won’t object. I won’t come near you or your group and you won’t have to see me ever again.” He felt his eyes begin to burn as he spoke, and his heart cracked with each word he said. but he wasn’t going to cry. He wasn’t going to show his despair to others through glistening tears.  Not in front of anybody. Not in front of Kaneki. He waited for Kaneki to react. He didn’t.

Silence once again reigned in the alleyway.

Then the sound of footsteps came towards him. Shuu’s muscles involuntarily tensed and he shrunk further into himself. Kaneki stopped in front of him and for a moment he thought Kaneki was going to kill, to rid himself of a pest that caused him problems.

“Tsukiyama-san, look at me.” Kaneki ordered though his voice wasn’t as stern. Shuu slowly brought his head up and his strained violet eyes connected with Kaneki’s piecing grey ones. “I have decided that if you are able to answer my question, I will… let this slide and you can still be apart of the group.” Shuu lit up and he nearly fell over.

“Of course, Kaneki-kun!” he exclaimed, all sadness leaving him in an instant. “I’ll answer any question you ask of me if it will ensure I get to stay as a member of your group.” He felt his chest fill with relief and happiness. Kaneki’s eyes narrowed, and he asked firmly:

“How did you do that with your kagune?” Shuu felt his happiness crumble for a moment.

“W-What?” he stuttered. Kaneki crouched down in front of him and his glare intensified.

“How did you do that with your kagune?” he repeated.

“Kaneki-kun, I’m afraid that I don’t know what your—”

“I saw you kill those ghouls.” Kaneki interrupted him, pointing at the corpses behind Shuu. “You didn’t use your regular sword. I didn’t know you could change the form of your koukaku like that. Your obviously keeping things from me.”

“Oh, Kaneki-kun your taking this the wrong way. That wasn’t anything of use. I wasn’t able to focus properly and was just being indolent.”  Kaneki gave him a look.

“You just killed three ghouls simultaneously in the time it takes me to crack my knuckles. If that’s you being lazy then what are you like when your serious?”

“I-I uhh…”

“Don’t play dumb, Tsukiyama-san. You can’t hide behind a façade this time. Come on now spit it out, my patience is wearing thin.”

“ _Ça va bien_ , I’ll tell you.” He sighed and straightened himself up. He planned to speak the truth, but not in its entirety. “When I was young, I was taught in the ways of mortal combat by my uncle. He taught me how to fight against all types of ghouls and how to have full control of my koukaku. What you just saw was a technique that let my koukaku take form without I having to think of its form. Nothing too special.”

“But why have I always seen your sword and nothing else?” Kaneki questioned further. At this Shuu smiled.

“Why, I want to fight in my style. I do not wish to be a carbon cutout of my uncle. I’d rather be myself.”

“Well, your own “style” doesn’t kill three ghouls simultaneously with a single thought.”

“I prefer enduring combat over swift butcheries. If my style takes more effort to strike down an opponent so be it.”

“What does your uncle make of this?”

“He can’t make anything of my actions, Kaneki-kun. He’s dead. Besides if he was alive, I still wouldn’t do his teachings.” At this Kaneki tilted his head to the side.

“You don’t seem that upset about his death.”

“We were never close, but I do thank him for his care of me.” Shuu felt like throwing up his meal as he spat the lie. The word “care” brought back a brief flash of his uncle’s twisted smile. He had had enough. “Well, Kaneki-kun I did what you have asked of me. Does that mean I get to stay?” Shuu pleaded, batting his eyes. Kaneki’s brows furrowed in thought. Shuu was on the edge of his seat waiting for the younger’s reply. A small crack filled the air as Kaneki used his them to crack the knuckle in his pointer finger.

“Fine you can stay, but if I catch you doing anything like this again, I’ll kill you myself. Understand?”

“ _Bien sûr_! I’m so happy that you put your faith back in me.”

“I don’t have faith in you. Your just to useful of a tool for me to lose.” Kaneki said bluntly before standing back up.

“Even better.” Shuu said also coming to his feet. He looked down at himself and cringed. “Oh, my I didn’t realize how messy I look.” He picked at the blood covered fabric of his jacket. “The last time I was covered in this much blood was when I invited you to the Ghoul Restaurant.” He gave a soft hum. “Now that is a night I will never forget.”

“Me too, and not for the same reason as you.” Kaneki gruffed with his arms crossed. Shuu chuckled and ran a hand through his blood-soaked hair.

“Well, now isn’t a time to remanence on such a memory. I must clean up the mess I made before it is seen by human eyes. _Bonsoir_ , Kaneki-kun.” He gave a small bow and looked Kaneki in the eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He winked before spinning on his heel towards the mass of gore and corpses that made the alley way look like a scene out of a horror movie.

“Wait!” Shuu instantly spun back around at Kaneki’s shout.

“Yes, Kaneki-kun. Is there anything else you need of me?” he waited patiently for Kaneki’s reply. He tilted his head to the side slightly as he saw Kaneki debate in his head of what to say.

“Tsukiyama-san can you… teach me what your uncle taught you?” Shuu eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“ _Quel?!_ Kaneki-kun, why would you ask me to teach you combat skills? You are already very proficient in the art.”

“Yes, I know, but I’ve never read anything about the technique you explained to me. Whatever your uncle taught you is clearly effective and since its not in any books, the only way I can learn it is from you.” Shuu did nothing to hide his sudden burst of happiness.

“Oh, Kaneki-kun I would love to be your teacher! This is going to be so much fun! We get to spend quality time together, in the same room all to ourselves, our skin will be touching—”

“You are already making me regret this.”

“ _Désolé_ , Kaneki-kun. I’m just feel so honored, that you would ask me to teach you my knowledge of combat.” Kaneki rolled his eyes. He then used his ghoul strength to jump up to the nearest rooftop. He looked down at Shuu and his white hair flowed in the wind.

“Just make sure to come tomorrow so, we can get started.” He then gave a small smile. “Also, don’t forget to bring, Hinami-chan flowers. You promised her some.” Before Shuu could respond Kaneki turned around and took off into the night. Shuu stared at the spot Kaneki had been only a moment before. One thought plagued the back of his mind and dulled his happiness.

_His_ knowledge. He was going to teach Kaneki _his_ knowledge. His face twisted into a grimace as a sickening feeling twisted in his gut.

* * *

Shuu stared blankly at the ray of sunlight light that pierced through the crack of the worn-out curtains. He law sprawled out on an old red sofa that had several tears and chipped wood. He had found refuge from the night’s storm in an abandoned warehouse. He had wondered through the large warehouse looking for a place to rest. He had found a personal quarter on the third floor and collapsed on the sofa once he had taken off the white tarp covering it.

When he had woken up this morning his bones ached from being on the springy sofa. He barely had any energy left to lift his head, so he didn’t move from his uncomfortable position. His back hurt the most though and he nearly felt paralyzed. It also didn’t help with the way he collapsed on the sofa the wound on his face rubbed against its fabric. He made a mental note that he would have to redo his horrible stitching later. A rumble started from his abdomen and vibrated through his whole body. He groaned and would have curled up on himself if he had the strength.

The oh so memorable feeling of hunger greeted him like an old friend, an old friend that had the sole intent of making his life more of a hell than it already was. He tried looking back in his memories and couldn’t find the memory of the last time he ate. The repercussions of him not keeping up with his healthy diet were hitting him at full force and he hated his stupidity. He had been so caught up in taking care of Kaneki’s needs that he forgot to take care of his own. He damned his lapse of idiocy and would have slapped his past self if he could.

There was no way he would be able to kill his uncle without the sustenance his body needed. Actually, he doubted he would be able to even defeat Lydia without doubling over in pain. He couldn’t go hunting now, not when the sun lit up every dark crevasse with its rays, leaving no place for a ghoul to kill a human unnoticed. Though he knew only the stupid or desperate would hunt during this time.

Night time was also a dangerous time. His uncle would probably send ghouls out in the city looking for him. If he was caught, he could only imagine the horrors his uncle would put him through for disobeying his orders. That fear alone made him one of the desperate ghouls. Since hunting humans wasn’t an option he had to go with the alternative.

He wasn’t scared to auto-cannibalize. He had done it before numerous times for different reasons. Taking a few bites out of his arm would be painful, but it was worth it to ease the gnawing in his stomach. He weakly lifted up his pale arm into the sun’s light and examined it. He would take a large bite of his bicep and take off the first two layers of muscle. Which should be simple to regenerate if he didn’t bite into his artery and easy enough to regenerate without using up to much energy. Then he would slit his wrist and cut into the vein to suck the blood from the wound. He planned use his teeth to keep the wound upon and stop his blood from clotting. Breaking down the specifics of how he would eat himself came naturally to him. He couldn’t help but piece together how he would eat his own flesh as if it were a gourmet meal. His mouth began to salivate as he shakily brought his arm towards his lips.

_“Don’t do that, Shuu.”_ A small voice at the back of his head sound. He halted his movements, his arm resting over his mouth. This wasn’t good. He was already starting to hear things. The sooner he got meat into him the better. He put his arm into his mouth and his teeth grazed over his skin.

**_“I SAID DON’T DO THAT!”_** The powerful yell that sounded in his head caused his body to instinctively spring into the air, all exhaustion expelled. He landed on the arm of the sofa in a crouch, whipping his head around franticly looking for the origin of the voice.

“ _C'est quoi ça?_ ” he said under his breath. “Have I lost my sanity so soon?”

_“Were you sane to begin with?”_ the voice sounded again in his head, clear as day. The voice sounded like his own, the only difference was that his accent was exaggerated, and the tone was sickeningly devilish. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he slowly got down from the couch. _“Whatever “sanity” you have left is being eaten away by your gluttony. I’m surprised your still able to think straight.”_ To say Shuu was frightened was an understatement. His blood had turned to ice and his heart raced as if he was running a marathon. He began to take slow steps backwards, his eyes scanning around the room.

_“Who knew the infamous Gourmet would be so frightened by a little voice in his head?”_ The voice mocked him. The fear in Shuu quickly molded into anger at the taunt.

“Where are you?! If you don’t show yourself, I’ll find you!” He yelled spinning around.

_“I highly doubt that. I’ve been here for a while now and you’re just now noticing me. But none the less if you wish to see me, here I come.”_

Shuu stopped moving and waited for the voice to speak again. It didn’t. He looked around the room and his gaze stopped on a body mirror leaned against the wall parallel to him. It was one of the many items in the room covered in a white tarp. With slow steps he made his way towards it. Once he got to it, he reached out a hand to pull off the tarp. His hand shook with hesitation before grabbing the fabric and ripping it off the mirror. Most of the tension in his body left as he was greeted with his image in the mirror.

His suit he had worn for the dinner with his uncle was dirtied and was mostly covered by the black leather coat he wore, containing his daggers. His hair was a shade lighter, more of a pale lilac than a bright violet. His long-left bang was split vertically into two colors. A stark white and a pitch black, the monochrome streaks rested over the left side of his face. His visible right eye was still violet, though it wasn’t as bright as before and the pupil looked strained. He brought a hand up to his bang and pushed it behind his ear to reveal the rest of his face. He didn’t stop himself from cringing at the sight.

The wound on his face his uncle had made was still present. Though all blood had been cleansed from it, it was still a dull red from irritation and pink from the exposed skin. The purple thread he had used to hastily stich up the wound was now deeply imbed into his skin with whatever new skin covering over some of it. His left eye was blood shot and red veins stood out from the corners. His iris was a bloody red and his pupil was the size of a pinprick. He barley felt any pain on his face, but that didn’t stop him from grimacing. Though he still retained most of facial attraction, he still looked completely insane.

He glared intently at his own visage, starring daggers into his multicolored eyes. One step forward and he was nearly pressed up against the mirror. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth become a thin line as he looked over every detail of his facial structure. He looked down at himself for a moment to make sure his body corresponded to the mirror’s image and to his relief it did. He looked back up at his face in the mirror and his heart sank.

Instead of meeting a pair of polychrome eyes he was greeting with a ghastly kakugan that violated his soul; just beneath it, lips were twisted into a nasty version of a smile. To Shuu’s horror the lips moved, and his voice spoke.

_“Here I am.”_ Shuu jumped back from the mirror, letting out a gasp. The Shuu in the mirror let out a horrid cackle as his image changed to become blood covered, with ripped clothes. The wound on the distorted Shuu’s face reopened and the violet thread become covered in crimson which caused them to change to black. _“Oh, did I scare you, my bad.”_ The distorted Shu laughed.

“Who are you?” Shuu questioned keeping his distance from the mirror.

_“I thought it would have been obvious at this point.”_ His cruel smile widened further.

_“I’m you.”_

“What?” was the only thing Shuu could spit out in his shock.

_“Well, not exactly. More like a part of you. A part of you, that’s kept hidden under the guise of grander and elegance. Its been quite a while since I’ve seen you and I must say,”_ his crimson eyes looked Shuu up and down, _“You look like a dog that’s been dragged through the mud.”_

“What do you mean you’re a part of me? I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Shuu said angrily taking a step forward.

_“True, but that’s because I never chose to make myself known to you. I’ve been here for a long time, Shuu. Ever since Slade left you in that room to starve, I’ve became a part of you. I saw everything you saw and felt everything you felt. That was until you found a way to put me to sleep.”_ His smile became an angry frown. _“I was asleep for what, seven long years. Who knew, in controlling your gluttonous appetite, I would be put out of the picture as well. Not that I blame you though, you didn’t know any better. Damn those wretched doctors for keeping me away from you.”_

“You’ve been in me for years? Why come back now?” Shuu asked, taking a step closer to the mirror. Not in anger like before, but rather out of curiosity.

_“The answer is simple, Shuu.”_ The Shuu in the mirror gave a sly smile. _“Your body has out grown the effects of the drug. Last night I was able to bring myself back from the depths of your mind in full.”_ Shuu’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean “out grown” the drug? There is no way that can happen.” Panic quickly entered his voice and he took another step forward. “It still works I now it does. It’s too strong to not be effective.”

_“Oh, really then why have you been so hungry lately? Seems to me like someone is in denial.”_

“No, I’m not! It’s just—” He was interrupted by a pain that erupted from his gut and spread out to the rest of his body. He couldn’t stop himself from keeling over and clutching his stomach. The pain was accompanied by a strain in his chest that caused him to cough. He covered his mouth with his hand as he began to hack violently. He felt bile rising in his throat, though it have the exact same taste of blood. It was extremely bitter and had a rotten taste.

It wasn’t long before it reached his mouth and coughed the mouth full of bile into his hand. It splattered onto his hand and dripped down the corners of his mouth. He looked down at his hand to see what he had coughed up and his breath caught in his throat. A pitch-black liquid with the consistency of oil clung to his hand.

_“Ouch that sure hurt.”_ The distorted Shuu said, in a strained tone. He was crouched down in the mirror staring at Shuu sideways. _“You feel that? That’s your body asking for something to eat. Believe me now?”_

“ _Damn vous_. Fine I’ll prove it to you.” Shuu hissed before bringing up his arm to bite into it. Panic filled the distorted Shuu’s eyes and he slammed his blood covered hands onto the class of the mirror.

_“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!”_ he roared, his mouth twisting into a snarl. The fierce action caused Shuu to stop in his tracks and look at the distorted Shuu.

“Oh, and why not? I’ve done this plenty of times and bounce right back.” The Shuu in the mirror didn’t let up his intense gaze.

_“Because you idiot, eating your own flesh is only temporary sustenance. Yes, you will heal wounds and regain strength, but only for a short period of time. Then its right back to the pain and suffering.”_

“You think I care?” Shuu retorted back without thinking. “As long as I get some energy out of this, I’m fine.” He went to bite into his arm.

_“If you do that, you’ll never be able to kill, Slade.”_ Shuu once again found himself stopping in place. He glared at the other as he continued. _“Slade beat you to the ground with a single blow and that was you fighting with what you had. Eating your own flesh doesn’t make you at your best. There is no way in hell that you will even lay a finger on him if you eat yourself. You need real food, if you want to take down that demon.”_

This caused Shuu to pause in thought. He was right. His uncle had battered him away like a pest when Shuu had given his all to take his life. He stood up and the Shuu in the mirror also rose to his feet. Shuu turned his back to the mirror and put a hand to his chin. He took a few steps forward and hummed.

“You’re right.” He said still in thought. The Shuu in the mirror lightened up.

_“Of course, I am! Listening to the voice in your head isn’t such a bad idea after all.”_

“I can’t kill my uncle on my own. Since he is the one that trained me, he’ll know my next move. Unless I do something that he won’t see coming.” Shuu spun around to face himself in the mirror, a fire lit in his eyes. “I’m going to form a group.” The happiness on the distorted Shuu’s face disappeared.

_“You_ _can’t be serious. Working with others is so,”_ he stuck out his tongue in disgust, _“distasteful. They will only get in our way.”_

“Maybe but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if I catch my uncle off guard. He always taught me that it was best if I accomplish my goals without the help from others. If I defy his teachings and form a group to take him down, my chances of killing him will be that much higher.” Shuu smiles widely. “I can already see it coming together.”

_“Two things, I need to say before you go on with this ridiculous plan of yours.”_ The distorted Shuu said. _“First that isn’t gonna solve our hunger problem.”_ A mischievous smile formed on his face. _“Unless you plan on devouring one of the grunts in your group.”_

“My appetite is the least of my problems. My demon of an uncle is back from the dead and wants me, to probably torture me for trying to kill him all those years. I can hold on a little while longer.”

_“Are you sure about that? You were just on the floor in pain, a moment ago.”_

“I mean I’ll eat of course, just... not as much as I used to.”

_“Fine. You’ll crack sooner or later.”_ The distorted Shuu gave a small smile before continuing. _“And second of all, are you going to call your group, “Shuu’s group”?”_ Shuu was a bit taken aback by the question.

“Why in the world would you ask a question like that?”

_“Because your dear, Kaneki called his group after himself and you were just fine with that.”_

“It was his decision to name his group not mine. Besides I actually liked the name.”

_“So, are you calling—”_

“No, I’m not calling it, “Shuu’s Group”. It needs to be something original, I’m not going to copy, Kaneki-kun. Though, a name can wait, I have something more important to attend to first.”

_“Oh, and what would that be?”_ The Shuu in the mirror inquired.

“Well, since I already have a plan, it won’t hurt to treat myself before I began my trek.”

_“A treat you say!”_ The distorted Shuu clapped his hands together. _“Now, that is something I love to hear. So, what will you be doing to get this treat?”_ A devilish grin spread across Shuu’s face.

“I’m going to visit my dear sweet, Kaneki-kun.”

* * *

Shuu raced through the night bounding from rooftop to rooftop. His heart pounded in his chest and he felt his blood burn from pleasure. The taste of Kaneki still fresh on his tongue. He came to a sudden stop at the edge of a rooftop and basked in his small victory.  He could already feel his body regaining strength and his appetite fading from all the blood he got out of Kaneki. Though the most damage he did to Kaneki was probably giving him a headache in the morning, he made sure to leave him fresh and perfect. It almost felt like a dream when he ran his tongue over Kaneki’s warm flesh and he had certainly not have been disappointed. If Kaneki found out what he had done he was sure to face the one-eyed ghoul’s wrath, but it was worth it.

If only there hadn’t been a creak in the floor boards, who knew how long he would have been there. He cursed whoever, roamed the halls at such a late time of night though he had a pretty good idea who it was. His thoughts were interrupted when the ever-quiet sound of feet meeting ground sounded. The smell that accompanied it caused his nose to unintentionally wrinkle. The corners of his mouth curved into a small smile.

“Looks like you caught up with me already. Your speed never manages to disappoint me.” He turned around to face the ghoul behind him, the small smile still present on his face.

“Renji-san.”

Yomo stood across from Shuu dressed in his black coat. The expression on his face giving no indication of how he felt. His steely gaze unwavering on Shuu. He looked him up and down taking in the changes of his appearance.

“Shuu-kun.” He addressed Shuu back, a slight edge too his voice. “Your look has changed quite a lot.” There was a pause of silence. “Who did that to your face?” Yomo asked.

“Who do you think?” Shuu all but hissed, his eyes narrowing.

“It was Slade then, not very alarming.” Yomo deduced, before continuing. “I saw what happened on the news.”

“Oh, and what did the news show?” Shuu asked, though he could figure out the answer in his head.

“The Tsukiyama Family Massacre.” Yomo answered not letting his voice falter.

“So, that’s what they’re calling the slaughter of my family. I bet it showed my horrid uncle taking his place as head of the family. A place he stole from my father. He stole a lot of precious things that night including everyone’s lives.”

“He killed everyone?” Yomo asked his strong gaze never faltering.

“Everyone, that stood against him. My dear father, Kanae von Rosewald, Mairo, too many corpses of servants to count… the Tsukiyama Knight.”

“Matsumae-san is dead?” The slightest crack entered his voice.

“Yes, Renji-san. She’s dead. When I said everyone, I meant everyone. Not even Matsumae and my father could stop Slade.” The intense glare of Yomo lightened up, just enough to be noticeable.

“Shuu-kun, I’m s—”

“Your what?! Sorry?!” Shuu interrupted him. “Don’t act like you care. I know you didn’t come to me because you wanted to pat me on the back and make me feel better. No, what I feel right now is not what you care about, but rather what I have been up to. Now, go ahead with whatever you want to say, I’m on a strict time limit.” The intense glare in his eyes returned at Shuu’s words.

“What, the hell were you doing in Kaneki’s room?” he demanded.

“I was just simply admiring Kaneki-kun strong body and sweet taste. I didn’t do anything wrong, I assure you. Just a simple taste and sniff.”

“You drugged and molested him. You see no wrong?”

“I didn’t do anything “sexual” with him Renji-san. Just, because I got pleasure from touching him doesn’t mean I violated him in that way.” Shuu only shrugged his shoulders. Yomo did little to hide his disgust.

“You’re insane.”

“So, I’ve heard. Now, what else have you come to pester me about?” Shuu said, annoyance in his voice.

“Shuu-kun, you need to stop.” Was all Yomo said.

“Stop what? Visiting Kaneki-kun? That’s fine. I saw him tonight because I knew I wasn’t going to see him for a while.”

“That’s not what I meant—” Yomo stopped himself, before starting his sentence from scratch. “Why won’t you see, Kaneki?”

“Well, you see I’ve decided to slaughter my uncle, for what he had done to my family and I know that it isn’t a simple walk in the park. Kaneki-kun will have to wait until I have Slade’s head on the end of my kagune. I’m forming a group to achieve my goal, though I haven’t come up with a name for it yet. But still,” a smile formed on his face, “would you like to join?” Yomo gave no answer, continuing to stare daggers at Shuu. “No, what a shame. I would have benefited from your ukaku kagune.”

“You can’t do that.” Yomo said firmly. Shuu’s eyes narrowed.

“Really, why not?”

“Because it’s insane. Charging head on isn’t the way to go. Just come to Anteiku and we can talk with Yoshimura-san about what to do next.” Shuu stared at Yomo blankly for a moment before his mouth twisted into a smile and a horrid laugh left his mouth.

“Ha! Renji-san you must be joking. Yoshimura-san isn’t going to do anything to benefit me. You both just want me out of the way so, you can act without my input.”

“Your view of us is flawed. We act for the better of ghoul lives, that includes you.”

“Sure, it does. I bet it included, that binge eating pig as well.” Shuu twirled a lock of hair around his finger. “Look, Renji-san I apprentice your “help”, but I assure you I’m quite capable of handling this myself. Now, you don’t want to join my group and that’s perfectly fine with me. I won’t even try and punish you for it.” Shuu’s eyes flashed crimson and he took a couple of steps closer to Yomo. “However, if you so much as put a foot in my way I won’t hesitate in beheading you.” Shuu’s death stare turned into a cheerful smile in an instant as he said: “Now, if you excuse me, I need to form a group without your interruptions.” He turned to leave.

“Shuu-kun, stop.” Shuu was forced to stop in place when a hand gripped his shoulder. “This path your going down will only lead to your demise. You need to come with me to Anteiku, right now before things get worse than they already are.” Shuu tensed under Yomo’s grip. “Kaneki-kun wants you Shuu-kun. He tried to go look for you earlier today and I had stop him for his own safety.” Still no reply. When Yomo tried to turn him around, Shuu barley moved an inch. Yomo’s grip tightened. “Shuu-kun, there are two ways this is going to end: you coming willingly beside me or me dragging your broken body behind me. Which will it be?” There was a small pause before Shuu spoke in a low voice that bordered on a hiss.

“Renji-san, the only reason in not snapping your neck right now is because I wish to make it to my destination on time. Go back to that wretched coffee shop and tell that old man I have things under control.” He then grabbed Yomo’s wrist and twisted it in the wrong direction. Yomo didn’t show any signs of pain as the bone in his wrist snapped and his fingers lost their grip on Shuu’s shoulder. Without Yomo grabbing him Shuu was able to dust himself off and begin walking towards the edge of the rooftop.

“It was nice seeing you again, Renji-san.” Shuu said not turning around. “Maybe we can meet again under more tranquil circumstances. Oh, and please tell the Kirishima siblings I said “hello”.”

Shuu froze as a burst of air cut through his hair along with a sharp sting across his cheek. He could already feel the streak of blood running down his face. He looked down in front of him and he felt his blood boil. A dark colored crystal shard with silver linings was imbedded into the roof of the building. It stood glistening in the moon’s light for a precious few seconds before dissolving into a dark mist and being blown away by the wind.

“Shuu, I’m not letting you leave.” Yomo said behind him. Shuu’s hands clenched into fits and his eyes felt a familiar tingle. Tense silence filled the night air. A cold gust of wind made its way over them. Shuu broke with six simple words:

“Then try and stop me, Renji.”

His koukaku burst from his shoulder blades in the form of spears that cut through the cold night air. Yomo only had moment before the bladed spears would reach him but that was enough time. He jumped and threw himself over the koukaku as it struck the ground where he once stood. He landed on the sturdy kagune and sprinted towards Shuu, leaving his black coat behind.

Shuu could feel the senses on his back tingle and he instinctively ducked. Yomo’s leg rushed over him and Shuu stumbled back as Yomo landed in front of him. Yomo wasted no time and aimed another kick at his opponent. Shuu was able to bring up one of his koukaku limbs to block the strike but the force behind it sent him back. Shuu gritted his teeth and sent his shimmering spears to tear apart the offending ukaku ghoul, though in doing so he left himself unprotected.

Yomo took advantage of this, he slid through the gaps of the koukaku and booked it towards Shuu. Shuu didn’t have time to react as Yomo crashed into him, he lost his grip on his kagune and it shattered as a consequence. They tumbled on the ground with Shuu fighting for control but losing to the ukaku ghoul’s raw muscle strength.  They came to a stop at the edge of the rooftop when Yomo slammed Shuu into the ground. Yomo put his full weight on top of Shuu and pushed his body into the ground. While Shuu struggled to bring himself up, Yomo elbowed him in the chest with a loud crunch. The breath was knocked out of Shuu and he collapsed back onto the ground.

“I didn’t want to do this to you, Shuu.” Yomo said as he brought back a fist, his eyes still a steely grey. Shuu only smiled as cut on his cheek pulled itself together, though the streak off blood continued to run down his face.

“Can’t say the same for you Renji.”

Shuu then kneed Yomo in the side causing him to falter and his punch to land right beside Shuu’s head. A sharp pain coursed through Yomo’s upper back in the area of his kakuhou and he hunched over. Shuu was able to bring up his legs and he violently kicked Yomo in the gut. The angle and force of the blow sent Yomo over Shuu and off the edge of the building and towards the ground below.

Unable to use his kagune he used his hand to pierce into foundation of the building. His fall halted, and his body jerked from the sudden stop. Yomo used the strength in his arm and swung himself up into the air. With a push of his feet on the wall of the building he found himself on the rooftop once more. But Shuu was no longer on the rooftop. He stopped himself from curing and looked out on the other rooftops around him. Shuu was no where in sight.

Yomo stopped at the edge of the rooftop and focused on the pain in his back. Every time he moved his shoulders, he could feel something tearing through his muscles. He reached over his shoulder and found a smooth handle sticking out of his back. Grabbing it, he pulled it out of him with little effort and brought it before his eyes to examine it. For the first time that night his expression turned into one of shock and anger.

In his hand was a dagger with a dark violet handle and a rose engraved on the side. The blade was short and would have gleamed in the moonlight, if it weren’t for Yomo’s blood covering it.

“He’s back.”

* * *

Banjou sat defeatedly in the cold cell, his head hung low and a sad expression on his face. Around him sat his trio of fellow gas mask followers Jiro, Sante, and Ichimi who huddled next to each other for warmth. Leaning against his side in a small mass was Hinami with a despairing look in her eyes. They had been caught while they had been trying to leave the ward.

By whom Banjou wasn’t sure, but he guessed it was Aogiri Tree since he saw a couple of White Suits with the black cloaked group that had ambushed them. It had been ten against five and since none of them were proficient fighters he made the decision to surrender so, no harm would come to them. They had been taken to a small base and promptly thrown into a cell. If they tried hard enough, they could probably break down the rusty metal bars keeping them inside the cell but trying to escape the base would be suicide with all the stronger ghouls around the perimeter.

So, all they could do was wait and hope to live another day. In a way Banjou felt responsible for their condition. If he had been a stronger ghoul maybe, he could have delayed the enemy ghouls long enough for the others to escape and he would have been either killed or captured. Then only one would have suffer instead of all. When they were apart of Kaneki’s group the fear of something like this happening was non-existent. Being with two powerful ghouls Kaneki and, though it pained him to admit it, Tsukiyama, who would take down the stronger enemies created a sense of invincibility in the hearts of himself and the weaker ghouls. Though, he knew Hinami held a great strength within her she was too young to fully unleash it properly. He faced the sad truth that without his former leader and his sword, they were no match against greater evils.

Hinami began to sniffle against his side, and he felt his heart break. He comfortably patted the small ghoul on the back and said in a soothing voice:

“Don’t cry Hinami-chan. We’ll get out of this alright.” Hinami brought up her head and looked at Bonjou with big brown eyes. To his surprise no tears were in her eyes and she had a baffled expression on her face.

“I’m not crying, Banjou-san. I smell someone coming.” Banjou sat up as well as the others when they heard Hinami’s words.

“Who is it, Hinami-chan?” He asked. Hinami sat up as well and took in deep inhales of the cold winter air through her nose.

“I’m not sure. They smell familiar yet it’s different from anyone else I smelled before. She scrunched her eyes closed, focusing on the foreign scent. After of few intakes of air her eyes shot open and she jumped up from her seated position on the ground. “I know who it is!”

“Who is it Hinami-chan?”

“It’s—”

“What’s going on in there?” a rough voice sounded from outside the cell, interrupting Hinami. The sound of footsteps sounded down the hall and were coming closer to the cell. “If I catch you, rats doing anything in there I’m gonna—” The approaching ghoul’s sentence was abruptly cut off and was replaced with the sound of him gurgling. A spray of blood splattered against the wall adjacent to the cell and a loud signaled the ghoul’s corpse hitting the ground. Footsteps approached the cell once more and Banjou felt his jaw drop open at who he saw standing in front of the cell with a victorious smile across his face.

“You almost blew my cover, little lady?” Shuu said as he whipped off the blood on his hand on his black coat.

Banjou was completely taken aback by Shuu’s clothing and multicolored hair. He also noticed Shuu’s new mask. The mask seemed to be made out of a metallic material. It covered the top part of his face and arched downwards to the left side to cover half of the bottom of it, it had a resemblance to his present crescent moon mask. It was a licorice black with sinisterly made eye holes. A violet-colored rose was on the left side of the mask and had dark silver vines with red thorns that twisted down the mask.

Though what took him aback the most were Shuu’s eyes. The right eye was a faded violet that looked dull against the left eye that was a piercing crimson.

“Flower man!” Hinami exclaimed running towards the cell bars. She gripped the metal bars and practically bounced. “You came to save us.”

“Of course, I came for you all.” Shuu turned his attention to the little ghoul. “If I want to reform the group, I can’t possibly have the members be harmed.” Hinami lit up.

“We’re bringing the group back together!? Oh, will Onii-chan be with us?”

“I’m afraid, not my dear. But don’t be disheartened, we can still accomplish our goal even without, Kaneki-kun.”

“And what goal would that be?” Banjou spoke up finding his voice. Shuu’s eyes darted from Hinami’s to stare directly at Banjou. He involuntarily felt himself shudder at Shuu’s intense gaze. A sly smile crossed Shuu’s face.

“I’ll let it be a surprise.” The uneasy feeling in Banjou’s gut only intensified. “Now let me free you, from your prison. Stand back, little lady. I wouldn’t want to accidently harm you.” Hinami did as she was told and took several steps back from the cell bars. Banjou watched as Shuu promptly cut at the bars at a speed that he could barley keep up with Shuu’s movements. Once Shuu was done, the metal bars were nothing, but small rings on the ground. “We need to hurry. We only have so much time on our side.” Hinami was the first out of the cell. Running at Shuu and wrapping her small arms around him in a caring hug.

“Thank you, flower man.” She said. Shuu returned the hug and patted the brown-eyed ghoul gently on the head.

“Your welcome, little lady.” Banjou was next followed by his followers. He gave Shuu a scrutinizing glance. Something wasn’t right.

“How did you find us?” he asked.

“Simple. I could smell Hinami’s scent and simply followed it to find you all.” Shuu answered.

“I didn’t know your nose was that strong.”

“There is a lot of things you don’t know about me.” Shuu replied with a smile. He pulled away from Hinami and grabbed her by the hand. “Let’s get all of you out of here. I have a place we can stay.” He began racing down the hallway with Hinami in tow.

“Should we follow him? He doesn’t seem to be quite right.” Jiro asked Banjou.

“I know what you mean, but he’s our ticket out of this prison. Better to follow him than be killed here.” Banjou answered following behind the two ghouls in front of him.

“If you say so.” They all began racing through the base making sure their quick footsteps were as silent as possible.

“Flower man, why do you look different?” Hinami asked looking up Shuu when they were almost out of the building. “You smell different too.” Shuu looked down at Hinami and gave a small smile.

“Times are changing drastically my dear. I’m just changing with them.” When they burst out of the base and to the outside, they greeted by a breeze of cold winter air that chilled their bones.

“Hey, how did you guys get out!?” The shout that came from behind them and they stopped in their tracks. Turning around Banjou felt his heart sink at who they were greeted with.

“I swear I locked the cell this time, I even double checked it.” Naki complained stepping out into the cold night air followed by his Whit Suit followers. Gagi and Guge stood intimidatingly behind their leader while the others fanned out. “Looks like you Gas Masks are smarter than you look.” Naki crossed his arms and looked over the group with a smirk.

“That’s funny coming from you, Naki-san.” Shuu said, letting go of Hinami’s hand to walk to the front of the group. Naki stared baffled at Shuu for a couple of seconds as if he was putting together who was standing. It wasn’t long before his eyes widened, and he gasped.

“It’s you! I almost didn’t recognize you with that new look you have going on.” He took a step forward and clapped his hands together. “It’s funny you showed up here, I’ve been given the order to bring you in…Alive though, that’s no fun.” Naki sounded disappointed at his last sentence.

“Oh, who gave you such an order?” Shuu asked.

“Well, it was…” Naki paused and tapped his chin. “Actually, I’m not sure. Everything got all chaotic last night and all I know now is that I’m taking orders from somebody new. And they ordered me too secure any loose ghouls in the area and capture you.” He pointed at Shuu as he spoke.

“An order, by my uncle no doubt.” Shuu mumbled under his breath. “Naki-san, let me ask you, why would you take orders from somebody you don’t know? It’s rather idiotic if you ask me.”

“Well, I didn’t ask you!” Naki said, angered at the insult. “I bet you don’t even know who I’m taking orders from.”

“Actually, I do.” Shuu then projected his voice so he could be heard by all. “You all are being led by the unjust order of, Slade Tsukiyama, my uncle. Who follows the rule of the supposed King of Ghoul’s. Slade gained his power here by killing my father, the head of the Tsukiyama Family, Mirumo Tsukiyama.” Shuu felt a small hand grip his own. He glanced down and met Hinami’s glistening brown eyes. He squeezed her hand gently back before letting go and walking forward to stand in between the two groups.

“Since he is head of my family, his power over others has doubled. Do you wish to follow somebody who got their power through, murder and deception or would you rather follow somebody who vows to root out all evil and treachery?” Banjou’s eyes widened at where Shuu was going with his small speech. “If you follow my lead, we can form a group to crush all those who are foul.” His lips formed into a wide smile.

“ **Thorn**. A group that will strike fear into those who dare oppose it’s might. With our strength combined no would dare stand in our way and we can kill the horrid demon, Slade, to avenge my family.” His lips formed into a smirk. “Now, what is your decision Naki-san. I hope you choose wisely because if my words won’t encourage you to join me, my actions certainly will.” There was only silence as everyone took in Shuu’s words. Naki’s brows scrunched together in thought and looked to Gagi and Guge who only shrugged their shoulders. He looked back at Shuu still looking conflicted.

“Don’t be swayed by the Tsukiyama’s words, Naki.” The strong male voice came from above and all eyes looked up to see who stood atop the building. “They are more devious than they appear to be.” Shachi stood atop the building letting his long black hair be pulled by the cold wind. Banjou and the others took a small step back at the sight of the intimidating ghoul, gripping Hinami’s shoulder to bring her back as well. Shuu’s eyes narrowed to slits and his mouth twisted into a snarl.

“Shachi, we meet again.” He hissed. “I sensed you coming, though I didn’t know when you would make yourself known. Hopefully you’ve come out to say you’re on my side.” Shachi fixed his hard gaze on Shuu.

“Joining your group would be suicide, and you know it as well.”

“Wait, Shachi-san. Maybe he has a point.” Naki spoke up, but he quickly shut his mouth closed when Shachi shot him a glare. He turned his attention back to Shuu

“Even with your strength Tsukiyama, you challenging me is like a rat challenging a lion. Surrendering now would be the best option for you… the less harmful option for you.” The pits of his dark irises turned a bright crimson. Before Banjou could stop her, Hinami ran forward and tugged on Shuu’s coat.

“Please don’t fight him, flower man.” She pleaded. “That is the ghoul that beat Onii-chan, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Shuu looked down at the little ghoul tugging on his arm and gave a small grin.

“Don’t worry, little lady. I’ll be perfectly fine.” He then gently pushed her back, she got the message and ran back to Banjou and the others who now backed up considerably. Shuu looked back up at Shachi, kakugan gleaming under the night sky. “You know what Shachi, it would be a suicide mission. For you of course. You see I never forgave you for what you did to my, Kaneki-kun. You wouldn’t have lasted a day in my group when I got a hold of you.” The slearas of Shachi’s eyes turned to black and veins formed from the outers of his eyes.

“You wish to fight me. Fine, don’t expect mercy from me, filthy Tsukiyama.”

“The same goes for you, wretched whale.”

Shachi promptly leaped from the top of the building and sent himself at Shuu in the blink of an eye. Banjou was surprised that Shuu had been able to jump out of the way while Shachi crushed only ground under his feet. Shuu’s back burst open and his koukaku shot forth. Though to Banjou’s surprise it wasn’t the normal sword he saw Shuu wield in combat, but rather three spears that looked like a twisted version of the sword.

“I didn’t know, he could do that with his kagune.” Hinami said, stunned.

“I didn’t know either.” Banjou replied, his locked on the ongoing battle before him.

Shuu’s kagune raced through the air and sought to tear apart their opponent. Though not surprisingly Shachi was able to simply kick away the offending limbs, breaking off their sharp ends in the process.

Shachi charged forward and made to strike Shuu with a blow that could uproot a tree. Shuu used what was of his koukaku to throw himself into the air, dodging Shachi’s blow by a hair. Once again to Banjou’s astonishment, he watched as Shuu reached into his coat and pulled out three daggers and sent them at Shachi. Two of them made their mark into the middle of Shachi’s back, but the third that was aimed for his kakuhou, missed as Shachi spun out of the way. Shuu landed in a small crouch and the sharp ends of his koukaku reformed. Shachi tore the daggers from his back. His eyes narrowed before he charged Shuu.

Banjou had been completely prepared to grab Hinami and run, but he found himself staring in awe at the fight in front of him. He had expected Shuu to have been defeated at Shachi’s first attack, but the koukaku ghoul held his ground. Not head on, but rather taking small jabs at Shachi before moving out of the way of attacks that could shatter bone. Banjou had a slim hope that Shuu would actually defeat the ghoul, that beaten their leader so swiftly before. That hope was soon crushed when one of Shachi’s kicks caught Shuu in the leg. Shuu was sent tumbling to the ground when the bone in his leg snapped. Before he could get up, Shachi came at him with a punch that struck him across the face.

There was a loud crunch as Shuu was sent flying through the air, his kagune shattering. He rolled on the group before he came to the stop with a loud thud. Hinami screamed and went to run towards Shuu, but Banjou grabbed her and pulled her back. Shuu groaned and began to push his broken body from off the ground. The broken bones in body began to right themselves with a series of loud cracks. His mask fell too the ground broken, with the part covering the eyes still intact but the curve that went down the side of the face was broken off. Shachi walked to stand in front of Shuu and looked down upon him.

“I have defeated you, Tsukiyama. It’s best if you stay down and accept defeat.” Shuu froze for a moment as his bottom jaw relined with a crack. Then his body began to tremble, and he coughed violently. A pained gurgle sounded from his throat and his fingers dug into the ground. His coughing resulted in him hacking up what Banjou assumed to be blood but was taken aback when black ooze splattered on the ground. The tremble in his body ceased as well as the coughing. A new sound arose. The frightening sound of laughter emanated from Shuu like a broken toy. Banjou felt a chill run up his spine as the manic sound of Shuu’s laugh filled his head. Shuu’s laughter stopped with a tsk.

“Stupid whale.” Shuu hissed with venom lacing his words. Shachi didn’t give any sort of reaction at the insult. Shuu then brought his head up to reveal his face. The wound on his face had reopened and blood ran down his face like a small stream. The cruel smile on his face stretching the wound further. Though what was most surprising were his eyes. While his right was still a pale violet, his left eye was kakugan that shone so bright, it demanded all attention. Both eyes were filled with pure madness.

“You just damned yourself.”

What happened next was what Banjou would describe as impossible. An event that would shatter all of reality and make anything possible in the world. For a moment he refused to believe what he saw, that his mind was simply playing a trick on him. But the truth stared right back him, clear as day. Shuu’s upper back had ripped open and the two large ribbons that had formed coiled around his arms like violet snakes. They solidified and formed brilliant blades that gleamed in the moonlight, ready for battle. But that wasn’t the only thing that made its way out of Shuu’s body. Soon after the blades formed, there was another burst of Rc cells that birthed from his back.

The Rc cells were not a bloody crimson as one would expect, but rather a pitch black that crackled with bursts of energy. They writhed and twisted around each other in a sort of elegant dance that was pleasing to the eye. The black cells began to solidify and take form. They wrapped around each other into two separate appendages. As they hardened the details of the limbs stood out. The two tentacles were beautiful in their style as they looked like a black stem of a lovely rose that was lined with dark violet thorns. Though from underneath the black mass dim pulses of dark red shone through like veins in an arm.

That’s when the rinkaku kagune finished forming from Shuu’s lower back.

The rinkaku twisted around Shuu in a deadly ball and complemented Shuu’s inhuman features. Banjou’s heart stuttered in his chest and he felt Hinami cling onto him tighter. Shachi’s eyes widened for a mere moment before they were back to their menacing glare. Though his glare looked meek against the raw look of insanity that burned in Shuu’s eyes.

**“DIE!!!”** Shuu screeched throwing himself at Shachi with his newly formed rinkaku.

Shachi brought up his arms to block the attack Shuu sent his way. Shuu’s koukaku blades crashed against Shachi’s bare arms and sent him skidding back. Shuu came at Shachi again with his blades, but this time Shachi caught them with his hands. The sharp edges cut into his hands and the blood ran down his arms, but he was able to push them away long enough to strike Shuu in the chest with a crunch. Though this time Shuu didn’t go flying back. Shuu dug his rinkaku into the ground and only skid back a couple of feet. He hunched over slightly from the attack but showed no other signs of pain. His sickening smile returned in all its glory.

“Arata hit me harder than you do.” He chuckled.

His rinkaku tore itself from out the ground and sent themselves hurdling towards Shachi. Shachi promptly formed his bikaku with a thought and planned to strike Shuu’s rinkaku tentacles with his bikaku tail. The two kagunes collided and Shuu’s tentacles tore apart Shachi’s tail as if it were tissue paper. The tentacles struck Shachi in the chest and he was sent flying backwards. He hit the ground hard and the breath was knocked out him. He tried to bring himself up from off of his back, but it was too late.

Shuu was already upon him laughing like a mad man. Both of his kagunes tore into the flesh of the Orca. Blood and pieces of gore went flying and the sound of jaws chopping down on flesh filled the air. The faint dark red veins on Shuu’s rinkaku pulsed brighter as the tore meat off from bone. Though Shachi made no sound. Banjou couldn’t tell if it was because he was dead or wasn’t the type of ghoul to cry out in intense pain.

Banjou looked horrified at the gory display and consciously turned Hinami’s head away from the bloody carnage. His uneasiness of Shuu had been right. Now would have been the right time for escape. To turn around with Hinami in hand and run away as fast as they could while the crazed ghoul feasted, yet he found himself glued to the ground. His heart pounded in his ears and his mouth went dry. He turned his head to the right to see Naki smiling and staring in awe at the bloody feasting. “Master”, he could see Naki’s lips form the word. His comrades however looked at Shuu in horror.

Shuu finally stopped and what was left of the once mighty Shachi was a mangled mess of gore and bones. Shuu slowly stood up, his rinkaku coming to twist by his sides. Banjou felt his heart nearly stop as Shuu looked over his shoulder to look at them. The blood drenching his body only adding to the insane look twisting in his eyes, his single kakugan gleaming brightly. His lips pulled up into a smile to reveal his blood covered teeth, pieces of skin stuck between his teeth.

“So, have you made your decision about joining Thorn?”


	7. Uncovered Thorns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope every one has a merry Christmas and if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you are having a lovely day. This is my Christmas present to you' all and I hope you enjoy. Happy Reading!  
> P.S. Kudos to my mom for getting me another Tokyo Ghoul manga for Christmas.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

Kaneki rested atop his bed as he read Sen Tatsuki’s latest novel. The lamp on his nightstand provided enough light for him to see the words and not being too bright to be an annoyance. The quiet atmosphere was broken from time to time when he would crack his knuckles. He had been reading for some time now and his body was beginning to stiffen though it didn’t bother him. He took a quick glance at the clock on the wall and gaped at the late hour. Hinami, Banjou, and his trio of followers had taken a trip through town to celebrate the formation of the group. They had tried to encourage Kaneki to come, but he rejected the offer due to reasons he didn’t want to explain.

Tsukiyama decided to stay behind as well and he wasn’t really surprised. Banjou had been skeptical about leaving Kaneki alone with Tsukiyama, but Hinami’s persistence to go into town had caused him to relent on Tsukiyama. What did surprise him however was that instead of bothering him through out the afternoon Tsukiyama had gone to his room in the farthest side of the apartment and hadn’t come out. He thought Tsukiyama would have tried to do something to him or at least tell him what he planned to do for the rest of the day, but no. Tsukiyama waltzed into his room and that was the last he had seen of the eccentric ghoul.

Though the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Tsukiyama had looked, down the entire day with less pep in his step and slight bags under his eyes. He almost asked if there was anything wrong with him until he remembered who he was dealing with. It didn’t matter to him if there was something wrong with Tsukiyama or not, as long as he did what, he was told and successfully completed the tasks he was given, he could care less how Tsukiyama was feeling. He would have forgotten that the Gourmet was in the apartment with him if it weren’t for the occasional thump and groan, he heard from Tsukiyama’s room. It was the recognizable sound of someone sleeping so, there was no reason for him to investigate.

Kaneki took a deep breath and continued his book in tranquility. Well, almost. The sounds from Tsukiyama’s room were becoming more frequent and began to raise in volume. It almost peeked his interest enough for him to investigate, but he just summed it up to Tsukiyama having a restless night. Plus, he wanted to know what was going to happen to the protagonist in the book he was reading. He stiffened slightly when a bang came from across the apartment and his eyes drifted away from his book to his closed door. He waited for any more noise and when he got only silence, he relaxed back down onto his soft mattress. His grey eyes scanning over the words once more.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The blood curdling scream caused him to nearly fall off the bed and his book flew out of his hand. The scream sounded as if it was caused by agony and it found a way to pierce his soul. The scream was followed by a loud bang that shook the floorboards of the apartment and the lamp on his nightside nearly toppled over. Kaneki felt a mix of anger and fear as he got off the bed and opened his bedroom door. All the lights were turned off and dark shadows danced in dark corners. He couldn’t see Tsukiyama’s room from where he was, and his brows knit together.

“Tsukiyama-san what the hell is going on in there?!” he asked, looking in the direction of Tsukiyama’s room. No reply. He huffed and made his way through the dark, the light from his room got rid of some of the darkness of the apartment. Once he stood at the entrance of the hallway that had Tsukiyama’s room, he could hear the ever-faint sound of erratic breathing. He slowed his steps as he came to stand in front of Tsukiyama’s door at the end of the dark hallway. Bringing up his knuckles he knocked on the wooden door.

“Tsukiyama-san, why did you scream?” Still no reply from the other side except for the heavy breathing. Kaneki’s brows furrowed, and he knocked harder on the door. “Tsukiyama-san, answer me.” When he didn’t receive an answer, he put his ear to the door and could hear the heavy breathing more clearly. It didn’t sound like heavy breathing anymore. But rather it sounded a lot like wet gurgling and strained sobs. He was taken aback when he registered a scent that came from Tsukiyama’s room. It was the smell of blood, but it smelled more rancid than usual. He slammed his fist on the door, the loud bang’s echoing throughout the hallway.

“Open the door, Tsukiyama-san!” Again, he was given no reply. “Open the door now or I’ll let myself in, you hear me.” When he was only met with gurgled noises, Kaneki grit his teeth. “Fine, don’t be mad at me when you no longer have a lock on your door.” He acted upon his threat and gripped the handle of the door tightly. He twisted the knob and pushed forward. The door shook form the force but didn’t open. He gave an angered sigh and used more force to open the door. This time he was met the sound of breaking metal and the door cracked open. He was surprised Tsukiyama hadn’t tried to stop him or at least give some sort of resistance, but he did neither. That only encouraged Kaneki to push further, swinging the door open and breathing in to give Tsukiyama a piece of his mind. The words died in his throat when his eyes took in the sight of the room.

The room looked as if an earthquake had it with shelves and paintings knocked over and scattered across the floor. The large window in the room had its curtains ripped of letting moonlight full the room. The scent of blood became stronger and Kaneki could see why. Tsukiyama was sitting on the center of the with his back turned to him. His back was arched, and his knees were pulled into his chest where the gurgling sound was coming from. Blood was splattered around him. It covered the bed, walls, and part of the floor in a beautiful ark that shimmered in the moon’s light. The blood trailing down Tsukiyama’s body was not what caused Kaneki’s entire body to feel as if a bucket of ice water had been dropped on him.

Jutting out from his shoulder blades was a violet koukaku that swirled in sharp curves like a demon’s horns, wrapping around Tsukiyama’s arms protectively. The elegant designs etched into them made them look harmless, that was until Kaneki looked closer and could see the sharp edges that could effortlessly cut through bone like butter. Though the stunning koukaku was simply two knives compared to the monstrous appendages that birthed out from Tsukiyama’s lower back. The two black tentacles looked leathery in texture with several dark violet thorns protruding out of the limbs like the stem of a beautiful rose. Faint red lines pulsed beneath the mass like veins which provided little light. They were very large and nearly filled up the entire room as they curved around like snakes. They caused shadows to dance as the appendages crisscrossed with the moonlight. It was tranquil in a sense as the limbs were unnervingly still with the only movement being Tsukiyama’s faint shaking.

He didn’t believe what he was seeing at first. Had thought that the dark lighting in the room had played a trick on his eyes, but as he looked at Tsukiyama’s back he could see the origin from which the ebony limbs sprouted. They manifested from Tsukiyama’s lower back. Where rinkaku’s come forth when summoned by their masters. Where his own kagune manifested.

“Tsukiyama…” he muttered under his breath, too shocked to say anything else. Tsukiyama hadn’t reacted to him, only continued to gurgle. Now hearing it closer Kaneki could distinguish that words laid within the wet noises.

“… Pl-ease stop it… It hurts so - _ugh_ \- much… so much - _ugh_ -…”

Kaneki felt a pang of concern and worry shoot through him and guilt soon followed after when his original intention to come see Tsukiyama was to scold him. All his anger left him, and he took a different approach to the situation. Walking towards Tsukiyama slowly and being as quiet as he could.

“Tsukiyama-san are you okay?” Kaneki never thought he would ever ask Tsukiyama that question, but he was willing his feelings of resent aside to help his new-found alley. He wasn’t too surprised when Tsukiyama didn’t respond and continued to mumble.

“…He’s gonna h-hurt me… I’m scared… - _ugh_ \- of pain…” Kaneki found himself cringing at the way Tsukiyama’s voice sounded. It was so, broken and strained that it sounded nothing like the ecstatic Gourmet he knew. It made pity swell in his chest. He didn’t have any idea what was wrong with Tsukiyama, besides form the giant rinkaku sprouting from his back. He was careful to walk around the black limbs as he crept closer towards the bed. His heart pounded in his chest and he could feel his senses screaming at him that the being in front of him was bad news, and that it was either fight or flight. He ignored it and tried to get Tsukiyama’s attention.

“Hey, can you hear me?” he stepped over an appendage before he found himself at the edge of the bed. He began climbing onto the bed when his shoulder accidently brushed against one of the rinkaku limbs. He flinched back at the small prick that came, and he looked at his shoulder to see the small cut that leaked a small drop of blood. He looked at the rinkaku and his eyes widened when he saw his blood being absorbed by kagune. The veins gave a soft pulse as the blood covering the outer layer was sucked in underneath its skin. He wanted to get out the room in that instant, but he progressed.

“Tsukiyama-san, it’s me Kaneki.”

The black rinkaku moved with such speed that Kaneki didn’t even see it move as it slammed into him. There was a loud crash as Kaneki was sent flying out of the room and collided with the wall before crumbling to the ground. He couldn’t stop himself from coughing up a few specks of blood that dribbled down the corners of his mouth. A large gash was slashed across his chest, ripping his shirt and soaking his clothes in blood. He struggled to regain his breath causing him to cough up more blood. He looked up to see Tsukiyama standing in the doorway.

His hair changed from its usual bright violet to a pale lilac, the most striking part of it were the streaks of black and white on his left bang. His rinkaku curled around him threateningly and the koukaku blades seemed to be sharper. His black-nails contrasted greatly against his pale skin, but his light silk clothes blended in just fine, though they did look torn with several rips and tears. Kaneki looked into Tsukiyama’s which had released their kakugan and the black veins pulsed fiercely underneath the skin. Tears cascaded down them, though they’re was a red tint to them.

Kaneki had hoped to find any shred sanity within the crimson depths but was met with only twisted insanity. Tsukiyama’s expression was blank for a moment before it twisted into a grimace and he coughed up a gout of blood that splattered on the floor between them. At least Kaneki though it was blood, it was as black as the sleras of a ghoul’s kakugan and had a thicker consistency. He looked back to Tsukiyama and his heart sank when he saw the cruel smile that had distorted his features, black ooze dripping from the corners of lips.

“What do you think?” Tsukiyama asked in voice that sound to corrupted to be his own. Kaneki couldn’t find the words to respond. Tsukiyama took a wobbling step forward.

“You wanted to see it didn’t you?” His rinkaku kagune pulsed and Kaneki guessed he was talking about his kagune. “Well, what do you think of it, Yamori-san? You think it’s pretty?”

“What did you just say?” Kaneki’s throat felt go dry as he found the voice to speak. Did Tsukiyama know Jason? His thoughts stopped when he saw Tsukiyama stumble on his next step and held his head in his hands. Tsukiyama’s moment of weakness was short lived as his head whipped back up, but his smile was gone. His expression was morphed by rage and his kakugan flashed. His crimson eyes bored into Kaneki’s grey irises.

“I’ll goddamn kill you, FILTHY PIG!!!” Tsukiyama screeched. Kaneki only had a moment to react before Tsukiyama launched himself at him with one of his blades raised. Kaneki ignored his healing wound and launched himself off of the wall as Tsukiyama koukaku cut into it. Kaneki landed at the entrance of the hallway and looked at Tsukiyama with wide eyes.

“What are you doing?” he questioned, fear and anger powering his words. Tsukiyama continued to glare daggers at Kaneki and charged once more. Kaneki flipped over furniture and ducked under Tsukiyama’s uncoordinated swipes and flaying tentacles. Tsukiyama continued to scream like a madman and Kaneki was close to releasing his own kagune but thought against it.

“Tsukiyama-san stop it! It’s me Kaneki!” he tried to reason with him as he dodged attacks.

“Shut up! I won’t let you live on this earth any longer! I’ll send you to hell to rot for your sins!” His eyes carried a chaotic determination sending chills down Kaneki’s spine. “Never again! You can’t hurt me ever again!” Kaneki’s eyes widened as one of Tsukiyama’s blades stabbed him in the shoulder and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Tsukiyama gave a laugh that seeped madness and his cruel smile returned. He brought up his blade to his mouth and made eye contact with the downed Kaneki. He ran his tongue over the koukaku blade, licking up Kaneki’s blood that stained his kagune. He hummed as his taste buds processed the sweet taste of the half-ghoul’s blood. Kaneki shuttered and Tsukiyama took a step forward, his aura felt different.

“Oh, my. If I had known you tasted this delectable, I would have come out sooner.” He loomed over Kaneki and his rinkaku swirled around him excitedly. “I hope you don’t mind if I take a bite out of your flesh. Your just to tasty for me to go without ripping out your intestines first.”

Tsukiyama went in to attack once more and that was when Kaneki decided that he needed to take action. His single kakugan took over his eye and his rinkaku tore out of his back and manifested within moments. Tsukiyama stared agape as the four blood red tentacles slammed into his chest sending him across the darkened room, knocking over a lamp in the process. Tsukiyama head collided with the wall and he seemed to fall back into a stunned state. Holding his head and whimpering. Kaneki stood up from off the ground, rinkaku coming to rest beside him, and simply cracked a finger.

“Snap out of it, Tsukiyama-san! Don’t make me kill you.”

“Please…” Tsukiyama’s voice quivered and was barley above a whisper. Kaneki felt his tense body lax slightly at the soft voice. “Please, make it stop. It hurts so much.” He began to hunch over, and his body began to shake, the black rinkaku curling in on its self and the koukaku tying itself into knots. “Please, help me!” he screamed moving his hands away from his face showing his gleaming kakugan and the new wave of red tinted tears that cascaded down his face. His kagune’s unfurled themselves and extended out in their full glory. Kaneki tensed back up and prepared for the kagune’s to strike him. But to his utter shock the kagunes’ turned on their owner. Striking him and taking off chunks of flesh. Over the sound of flesh being ripped apart Tsukiyama screamed:

“Kanae! Matsumae! Papa! Please help me! I’m dying! Please save me! SAVE ME!!!” Kaneki couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A ghoul who he had portrayed as a powerful yet arrogant individual who could have other begging at his knees for mercy, was crying like an abandoned child for somebody to help him. The feeling of pity returned swiftly at full force.

“Tsukiyama-san, you need to stop that right now!” Not surprisingly Tsukiyama didn’t listen to his plea and continued to claw at himself. The thought of attacking Tsukiyama now seemed greatly unfair and cruel, but if it would get Tsukiyama to stop hurting himself it had to be done. “I’m sorry, Tsukiyama-san. This is for your own good.”

With that Kaneki launched himself at Tsukiyama and since the chimera ghoul was too focused on himself, he couldn’t defend against the attack. Kaneki’s rinkaku tentacles cut into the koukaku and black-color rinkaku while he slammed his foot into Tsukiyama’s head. The result was that the kagunes cracked form the force and began to break down while Tsukiyama’s head slammed into the wall behind him with a wet crack. His body stilled and his kagune’s finally dissolved into a rest mist that briefly lit up the room with their brilliance.

Tsukiyama collapsed to his knees, a large bloodstain on the wall where his head had been slammed into it. His hair reverted back to its trademark violet and his skin and nails as well went back to normal. Kaneki also broke down his kagune and he stared down Tsukiyama with pity in his eyes. Tsukiyama make a series of gurgling sounds and if he was trying to talk Kaneki couldn’t understand him. Tsukiyama looked around and Kaneki could see the clouds fading over his violet eyes. He reached out weakly with his hands as if he was trying to reach for someone but failing miserably. The gurgling was slowly turning into weak sobs as blood poured form his mouth.

Kaneki wasn’t exactly sure what emotion compelled him to bring comfort towards Tsukiyama, but he didn’t fight it in the least. Getting down to his knees in front of Tsukiyama, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. Tsukiyama didn’t resisted, leaning into Kaneki’s body and weakly putting his arms around the other. Kaneki felt Tsukiyama rest his head on the crook of his neck and warm blood continued to pour from his mouth, dirtying his clothes further, but he could care less. He patted Tsukiyama on the back making sure not to pass over his kakahous.

“It’s okay Tsukiyama.” He said in calm voice, the one he would use to ease a troubled Hinami. “I’m here to save you.” The gurgling slowly ceased and Tsukiyama breathing evened out, burying his face deeper into the crook of Kaneki’s neck.

“Thank you.” Were the mumbled words Tsukiyama coughed out before his entire body gave out and his resting form collapsed on Kaneki. The apartment was tranquil once more with Tsukiyama light breathing being the only sound. Kaneki let out a tired sigh as he continued to hold Tsukiyama against himself. He had many questions and wanted to grill Tsukiyama for answers in the morning, but he thought back to the events of the past evening and thought better of it. He didn’t want Tsukiyama freaking out again especially with the entire group here since they could be injured, and it would be a hell of a mess to clean up.

No, he wasn’t going to directly confront Tsukiyama, but rather he was going to make Tsukiyama confess to what he was hiding. He doubted Tsukiyama would remember what had happened the tonight when he woke up in the morning and hopefully Tsukiyama didn’t wake up in a fit. With his plan set in his head he looked down at the sleeping ghoul in his hands, his lips pulled into a sad grimace.

“What happened to you, Tsukiyama?”

* * *

Hide was awoken to a ringing noise that assaulted his ears and awoke him from his sleep. He peeked open his eyes and groaned when he saw his phone was ringing on the dresser next to him. Too tired to reach out and grab his phone, he put his pillow over his head to try and drown out the noise. He could still hear his loud ringtone in his head. He gave up and took the pillow off his head. Still drowsy he picked up his phone, the light blinding him slightly. His vison was blurry, so he wasn’t able to read who was calling him. Regardless he answered the call and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello.” He said drowsily.

“Nagachika-kun where are you right now?” a panicked voice came from the phone.

“Takizawa-san is that you?” Hide asked, rubbing his eyes. “You know when I gave you my phone number it was so, we could talk in the afternoon and not two o clock in the morning.”

“What are you talking about it’s past eight- wait are you still in bed?”

“Yep.”

“What are you still doing in bed?! The CCG is having an important meeting today and everyone has to attend.”

“Wait what?” Hide could hear Takizawa face palm on the other end.

“How could you forget that we have a meeting today? They announced it plenty of times.”

“Guess I blanked out.” Hide said scratching the back of his head.

“Well, you better get here fast, it’s going to start in fifteen minutes.” He shot up, his eyes wide.

“What?!” He put his hand to close to the edge of the bed and he was sent tumbling to the floor.

“Hideyoshi-kun are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m alright, just slipped off the side of my bed.” Hide sat up and dusted himself off. “I’m coming there right now. Could you save a seat for me?” Takizawa grumbled on the other end.

“Fine, but you need to get here as fast as you can.”

“Please, I’ll be there so, fast that no one will now I slept in.”

“You better.”

“Thanks for having my back.”

“No problem.”

“Oh, and Takizawa-san.”

“Yes.”

“Just call me, Hide-kun. I told you that already.” There was a small pause before Takizawa spoke again.

“Oh, right. Well, Hide-kun I’ll see you in a bit. Bye.”

“Byyyee.”

Hide hung up and immediately began to do his morning routine. He ran to the bathroom and began brushing his teeth with one hand while simultaneously combing his bedhead with the other. Once he finished rinsing out his mouth and styling his hair, he put deodorant on since he didn’t have time to take a shower. He quickly threw off his pajamas and changed into his work clothes.

After sloppily putting on his shoes he threw on his hat and then sprinted to the front door. He burst through the door and was greeted with the sun’s bright morning rays. He immediately went to his bike and hopped on. He pedaled as hard as he could as he rode down the street. The wind tugged on the ends of his hair as he made sharp turns and twists. He looked down at his watch when he approached an intersection. His watch read _8:50_.

_“Takizawa-san said I have fifteen minutes to get there. I already used five which leaves me with ten. I need to do is follow my route at my highest speed, it may be a workout on my body, but I’ll get there in time. Pfft I got this in the bag. Nothing can stop me no-“_

His thoughts were interrupted when he crossed the intersection, and something collided into his side. He was sent crashing to the ground he instinctively curled up to protect his head as his body smacked into the concreate. His bike landed beside him, the wheels still spinning. He laid dazed on the ground for a moment before he coughed and slowly tried to pull himself into a sitting position.

 _“Spoke too soon.”_ He thought as he looked up to see what had hit him. In front of him was a black and red motorcycle that looked to be made out of spare parts and in its seat was a young woman.

“Oh, shoot.” She cursed as she put the kickstand down. “I’ve only been here a few days and I already hit somebody with my bike. Nice going.” She got off her bike and quickly moved to stand in front of Hide.

Now that she was closer, Hide could see that she looked to be in her late-teens. She had short ginger hair that was put into sloppy pigtails at the sides of her head.  She was wearing what Hide considered formalish attire. She wore the standard black blazer with a red tie and white shirt, though her blazer wasn’t buttoned up all the way up and her black skirt was pleated. She wasn’t wearing any stocking’s either showing her light toned skin. On her feet were black mary janes that looked half-hazardly put on. Her vibrant green eyes were full of panicked as she looked down at Hide.

“I am so sorry! Are, you okay?” she asked as she reached out her left hand for him to grab. He was surprised to see her hand was not made out of flesh but made out of plastic as a prosthetic limb. Regardless he grabbed her hand and said as he was being pulled up:

“I’m fine, just a bit ruffed up.” Once he was pulled to his feet he dusted off the dirt that was on his clothes.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” She apologized again. “I didn’t see where I was going and oh god your bike!” Hide looked down at his bike too see that the metal from the front tire was bent inwards. He stared aghast as his only way to get to the CCG headquarters was broken.

“Takizawa-san is going to hate me for being late.” He mumbled under his breath.

“Oh god I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to wreck your bike.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” Hide said looking at her. “I can always get a new one, but right now I really have to go.” He turned around and prepared to sprint but was stopped when a hand was put on his shoulder. He turned around to face the women as she spoke.

“Wait, let me take you to where you need to go.”

“Really?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah, it’s the least I can do for wrecking your bike.” She began walking towards her motorcycle with Hide following behind. “So, where you need to go?” she asked as she sat down on the motorcycle.

“I need to go to the CCG headquarters. There’s a meeting I have to go to that starts at nine ‘o clock.” She gave a look of surprise at his words.

“No way that’s where I’m going!” she then patted the spot behind her. “Hop on and I’ll get us both there before the meeting starts.” Hide did so, grabbing the others shoulders as she started the engine and began to drive. As they sped through the streets Hide asked:

“Hey, I never got your name.”

“Oh, my bad. My name’s Gaige Wilson.”

“Gaige?” Hide said with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a nickname. My real name is not to be known.”

“Why?”

“Too embarrassing.”

“Oh, well my name’s Hideyoshi Nagachika, but you can call me Hide for short.”

“Hide huh. You chose that name yourself?”

“No actually. My friend did.”

“Oh, what’s his name?”

“Kaneki. We’re childhood friends or _were_ childhood friends.” Hide said with a small frown.

“Were? Did something happen between you two?”

“No, he just all of a sudden went missing last year. I’ve been putting up posters and trying to know if anyone has seen him, but I still haven’t found him.”

“Oh geez, I’m sorry.” Gaige groaned, she would have facepalmed if she wasn’t riding a motorcycle. “First, I hit you with my bike, then I make you bring up your missing friend. There goes my first impression.”

“No, it’s okay.” He reassured her. They made a left turn and they were at the CCG headquarters. To Hide’s surprise the parking lot was completely full, with no empty parking spot in sight. How big was this meeting? As they drove to the entrance Hide spoke:

“You know, you can really make it up to me if you bought me lunch.” Gaige went to protest when she realized that it was only fair.

“Can’t really say “no” can I?”

“Nope.”

“Fine. I’m eating out today with a friend she won’t mind if you tag along.”

“Is it okay if I bring a friend along as well?”

“Sure, the more the merrier.”

“Thanks.”

“No, prob.” She pulled up to the entrance building and stopped at the entrance. Hide hopped off and then turned to face her.

“I’ve got to go park my bike.” She said preparing to drive you off again. “Guess, I’ll see you later, Hide-kun.”

With that she drove off into the parking lot. Hide immediately spun around and burst through the front doors. The building was nearly empty with only a few stragglers going into the meeting room. He speed-walked as fast as he could without running to the meeting in time. He had to squeeze through a few people to make it inside the large meeting room. It was a different layout than the usual meeting room, having a large stage with a big screen behind it instead of the usual high raised desks. He was stunned to see it was overfilled with more people than usual. Not only that, but the people that sat on the left side looked unfamiliar.

He didn’t know everyone that worked at the CCG, but he could tell that those people weren’t from here. He looked around the crowded room and found Takizawa sitting on the side near the front with Kousuke Houji sitting to his right and an empty seat to his left. Takizawa was looking around nervously and repeatedly glanced down at his watch. Hide glided towards the front of the room and jumped into his seat saying:

“I’m here!”

Takizawa was startled by Hide’s sudden presence, and was quick to reprimand him, but gasped once he saw Hide’s appearance.

“What happened to you!?” he asked loudly. “You look like you got hit by a bus.” Hide then looked down at himself and realized he had not properly straightened his clothing and it was dirtied in some areas. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. Takizawa’s eyes widened. “Please, don’t tell me you got hit by a bus.”

“No, no of course not.” The stress from Takizawa’s face faded. “It was a motorcycle.” The stress immediately returned.

“What!? Are you okay?” he asked worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little ruffed up.”

 “No, kidding you look filthy. Here let me help.” Takizawa then went to work on fixing Hide’s attire. He patted off all the dirt that he could and smoothed out the wrinkles in the others clothing. He took off Hide’s hat and fixed the few strands of hair that were out of place and put the hat back on. And then finally he licked his thumb and wiped off the dirt of Hide’s left cheekbone. Hide sputtered, playfully batting Takizawa’s hand away.

“I already said I’m fine, mom.” Hide said jokingly. Takizawa doted on him as much as he scolded him, though he didn’t mind. “The girl who hit me was nice and she even drove me here, turns out she is going to be here too. Actually,” Hide chuckled nervously, “we are going to have lunch with her today.” Takizawa’s eyes widened.

“What!?” he said loudly. “I thought lunchtime was our time to talk, why would you bring someone else into it?”

“Oh, is someone getting jealous?” Hide said with a raised eyebrow.

“What no! It’s just that…” Hide chuckled as Takizawa began to ramble.

“I’m just joking man.” Hide said. “She’s bringing someone else too so, it shouldn’t be too awkward when we have lunch.” The room then began to quiet down and people standing took their seats.

“Hey, Takizawa-san can I ask you a quick quesh?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“What is this meeting about again I completely forgot?”

“… Your hopeless, Hide-kun.”

* * *

Kaneki finally came up with a plan to expose Tsukiyama’s rinkaku. Ever since he had found out that Tsukiyama had a rinkaku he had tried to make the known koukaku ghoul confess to having a second Rc type with small pokes and prods, but none of his efforts cracked Tsukiyama. It had become harder when Tsukiyama moved out of the apartment, but he never relented his efforts. Tsukiyama either didn’t notice his efforts or was acting ignorant because he never once called Kaneki out for being too nosey or invading in his personal business. Either way it didn’t matter, he had Tsukiyama backed into a theoretical corner.

The previous night he had caught Tsukiyama hunting without his consent. He could have kicked Tsukiyama out of the group there and then but decided against it. He instead used it as a chance to get more information and put him into a spot where he had to confess to his secret. Today Tsukiyama would have to teach him what he knew in the art of combat. It was simple, but it will be effective if Kaneki pushed the right buttons. He already had his training attire on and was ready to in act his plan.

He glanced at the clock in the living room once more and was glad to see it was nine o’ clock. The time Tsukiyama usually arrived. He pretended not to show any interest when a knock came from the door and he continued to lounge in his chair and read. Hinami, who was watching TV, broke her gaze from the screen instantly and ran towards the door. Banjou visibly frowned, knowing who was on the other side. Hinami promptly opened the door and was ecstatic to see the ghoul standing behind it.

“Flower man!” she exclaimed. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the small bouquet of yellow and white flowers in Tsukiyama’s hands. “You brought me flowers!” she gave Tsukiyama a hug.

“ _Bien sûr_ , I did little lady. I promised I would, didn’t I?” Tsukiyama said, returning the hug. Kaneki watched the exchange with critical eyes as Tsukiyama handed the small ghoul the flowers. Hinami had been showing more and more affection towards Tsukiyama. There was no reason behind the sudden change in their relationship, but he believed it to be unnecessary to bring it up. He put his book down and approached the smiling duo.

“Oh, good morning Kaneki-kun. You look…” Tsukiyama took in the clothes that Kaneki was dressed in. “You actually want me to teach you.” He sounded stunned. “I thought you were playing  a trick on me. None the less I came prepared.” He pulled back his red blazer slightly to reveal his combat clothes underneath.

“Flower man, I didn’t know you were going to teach, Onii-chan.” Hinami inquired still holding the flowers gifted to her. “Can I watch?” Before Tsukiyama could answer, Kaneki but in.

“I’m afraid not today, Hinami-chan. It’s going to be just me and him today.”

“Are you sure about that, Kan—”

“Yes, I’m sure, Banjou-san.” Kaneki cut off Banjou’s worried plea. “Trust me things will be under control.” That was a stretch. If Tsukiyama freaked out he wasn’t completely sure if he would be able to keep Tsukiyama under wraps. Which is why he only wanted himself to be in the basement with Tsukiyama if he were to lose control. “C’mon Tsukiyama-san I don’t want to waste any time. I’ll meet you in the basement.”

“I’ll be right there, Kaneki-kun. Oh, I’m so excited.” Kaneki began to question whether this was a good idea as he made his way down the stairs to the basement. He already had towels and bottles of water ready for the day and mentally prepared himself for however Tsukiyama would react. He began to stretch his arms and legs, getting his body ready for physical combat. “I’m ready, Kaneki-kun!” Tsukiyama said as he came down the stairs. Kaneki had to admit it was weird to see him in a white short-sleeved shirt and black pants. Tsukiyama looked too excited as he came to stand in front of him.

“So, what do you want to start with? Depending on what you ask me I may or may not be able to teach you.”

“Do you know anything about rinkakus?” Kaneki asked.

“Certainly. I know about all the Rc types. What their strengths are, what their weakness are, how to combat them. Everything really.”

“How would you defeat a rinkaku ghoul, Tsukiyama-san?”

“Shouldn’t you address me as, Tsukiyama-sensei?” Kaneki gave him a glare. “Fine, you don’t have to. Now how about I show you how I would defeat a rinkaku ghoul, such as yourself.” Tsukiyama got into a wide stance and brought up his arms, his hands clinched in fists. “Attack me.”

Kaneki did as the was told with no hesitation, though he was a little surprised by the command. His single kakugan flared to life and soon after his four tentacles sprouted from his back. He charged Tsukiyama head on, his kagune aimed to attack. He saw a small smile form on Tsukiyama’s lips as the four limbs came at him. Kaneki struck at Tsukiyama but was completely taken aback when in a simple second Tsukiyama disappeared from sight, dodging the attacking tentacles.

In his moment of confusion, a fresh sting of pain coursed through his right leg. The pain didn’t bring him to his knees bit the severed muscles caused him to lean on his left leg. Kaneki swung blindly behind him in hopes of striking his opponent. He was rewarded with a another burning pain along his lower back and he felt his kagune dissolve. In a spike of adrenalin, he fussed together the strong muscles in his leg and spun around with a kick. He was startled when his foot was caught in midair. He came face to face with a smiling Tsukiyama. He’s been stuck in this position before and was ready to break his leg in order to kick Tsukiyama. What he didn’t expect was for Tsukiyama to tighten his grip on his ankle and pull him in closer. Tsukiyama head butted him and Kaneki’s vison went white as he collapsed to the ground. He instantly tried to pull himself up, ignoring the pain coursing in his head, but two spears cut into his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. He opened his eyes to see the third spear’s razor end raised above his head.

“I thought you said, you didn’t use those in combat?” Kaneki groaned, blood seeping out his wounds and down his lips.

“Yes, I don’t use this manifestation of koukaku myself, but if it helps you learn I shall use it. Now how did I defeat you?”

“What are you saying? Your supposed to teach me, not ask me questions!”

“I am teaching you, if I gave you all the answers to the test how are you supposed to learn? Now, think back, when was your downfall?”

“The moment you cheated.”

“Cheated? Oh, Kaneki-kun I didn’t cheat. I simply took advantage of the fact that you used all of your kagune for offense and not spilt it up for defense.” Tsukiyama said with a smile. His kagune dissolved and the pressure in Kaneki’s shoulders disappeared. Kaneki sat up and felt the flesh on his back began to reknit. “If you want to be successful you need to give each of your rinkaku limbs a task. It may seem difficult, but its rather easy once you learn how to train your body and mind.” Kaneki got up and dusted himself off, acting as if he hadn’t just been beaten by a ghoul with a Rc type that was supposed to be weaker than himself.

“Not terrible advice, but what I really want to know is what the proper form of a rinkaku should be.”

“The way your kagune is formed is just fine, more effective than it’s previous owner to tell the truth.”

“But, what form would you take?” Tsukiyama froze and gave him a look.

“What do you mean?”

“Theoretically speaking, if you had a rinkaku, what form would you have it take?” Kaneki asked, holding back a smirk. Tsukiyama tapped his chin as he processed the question.

“I’ve never thought of that before therefore I don’t know what form it would take. To be honest I would most likely take after you if I had a rinkaku.” Tsukiyama smirked and Kaneki internally frowned. Not the answer he wanted. “Now knowing what I just told you, try to subdue me.” A smug smile formed on his face. “If you can.”

Kaneki gritted his teeth and reformed his kagune with a flourish, his single kakugan flaring back to life. Tsukiyama also reformed his kagune, three violet spears shooting out of his back. With violet eyes seeping into crimson and a taunting hand gesture, Kaneki attacked. Kaneki kept in mind of what Tsukiyama had told him and kept two of his appendages close to his body while the other two struck at his opponent. Tsukiyama seemed to look on in amusement as he fended off against the onslaught of tentacle strikes. He rarely attacked himself, sneaking in a few jabs and strikes which Kaneki blocked with his two defending limbs.

Though, just because Tsukiyama didn’t attack frequently, that didn’t mean fighting him was a walk in the park. Tsukiyama was extremely fast, faster than Kaneki had originally thought; dodging attacks at the last second and he lost sight of him multiple times. Whether it was due to the different koukaku form or if Tsukiyama had also been that fast, Kaneki didn’t know. Kaneki had planned on trying to physically pry the rinkaku out of Tsukiyama, but since he couldn’t land a proper hit on him, he decided to use his words instead.

“Why do I get the feeling you know more about rinkakus more than your own Rc type?” Kaneki said over the clashing kagunes.

“Well, since the rinkaku is biologically superior to my koukaku, my uncle taught me everything about it so, when I faced one, I wouldn’t lose.” Tsukiyama responded as if his koukaku wasn’t flaying around to block the rinkaku attacks.  

“So, does that mean you have fought rinkaku’s besides me?”

“Of course.”

“Did you fight, Jason then?” Tsukiyama faltered for a second and Kaneki was almost able to land a blow on him but Tsukiyama dodged at the last second.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m saying you must have fought, Jason then. I’m sure you two must have crossed paths.” Tsukiyama made an unreadable expression before he responded.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve never interacted with that untasteful reptile in my life.”

“Are you sure about that, because he told me otherwise.” That was a lie, during his torture, Jason had not even breathed Tsukiyama’s name, but Tsukiyama seemed to buy it as his eyes widened.

“He mentioned me?”

“He sure did. Though the way he talked about you, it sounded like he knew you well. He said you two knew each other’s darkest secrets and your corrupted views on life. He also told me about your kagune. About how much he loved it and it’s alluring form.” Tsukiyama visibly paled.

“What else did he say about my kagune?” A wicked smirk formed on Kaneki’s face, and he cracked a knuckle.

“He said it looked pretty.”

Tsukiyama’s kagune froze and his body did as well. He held an expression, that had the word fear written all over it. Kaneki used this moment to attack and his strike collided with Tsukiyama’s side. Tsukiyama’s kagune shattered and he was sent tumbling across the training room floor. Kaneki was on him in seconds, putting himself on top of him and pushing his shoulders into the ground. Both of them were covered in sweat and breathing heavily from exertion. Tsukiyama looked dazed as Kaneki’s rinkaku was raised above him threateningly.

“Tsukiyama-san, it’s never good to let words get to you during a fight. You may get hurt.” Kaneki taunted with a smile.

Tsukiyama’s gaze hardened though a few strands of violet hair got into the way of his eyes. Though he didn’t say anything, his obscured eyes portrayed his anger. Tsukiyama reached his hand around to Kaneki’s back and squeezed. He didn’t know what Tsukiyama did, squeeze a pressure point or mess with his spine, but he felt paralyzed and his entire body laxed. His kagune dissolved in a red mist and Tsukiyama promptly switched their positions. Tsukiyama now was onto of Kaneki, holding the younger’s wrists above his head. Kaneki’s body was still recovering from whatever Tsukiyama had done to him and couldn’t struggle against the death grip Tsukiyama had on his wrists.

All Kaneki could do was stare up into Tsukiyama’s violet eyes, his form back lit form the ceiling lights. He had never been this close, to a sane Tsukiyama before and he could better see the glittering orbs that were his eyes.  The sclera was pure white with no pink shade of coloring around their edges, even though his kakugan had been previously activated. The dark pupils held a soft glare and would shake at a single movement of the eye. The iris brought everything together. To his surprise, Kaneki saw that the irises were not a solid violet instead it was an umbra. Like a sunset the crown of the iris was light and almost blended in with the sclera and the base being a deep violet that held the curves and motions of waves. He would have felt at peace gazing into Tsukiyama’s eyes if it weren’t for the fierce look behind the glare.

“Kaneki, whatever Jason told you were lies.” Tsukiyama’s voice held such a strong edge that Kaneki had never heard him say before. “He was a psychopathic killer, who devoured and tortured others, including his own kind. Taking those monster’s words for truth is stupid and I know your smarter than that. Trust me it’s for the better.” Even though the buzz and stiffness had left Kaneki’s body he couldn’t move his mouth to respond.

Tsukiyama seemed to finally realize the position he had Kaneki in and promptly released his death grip from Kaneki’s wrists. “My apologies, I didn’t mean for things to end like this.” He apologized getting off of Kaneki and offering him a helping hand. “Come, let’s take a break.” Kaneki took the hand with little hesitation and was pulled up off the ground.

They sat on the sidelines and took sips of their water, cooling their bodies down. It was silent. Neither of them looking at each other or speaking. Kaneki would be lying if he didn’t say he didn’t feel a ping of guilt for purposely trying to trigger Tsukiyama into revealing his secret. There was probably a reason that he kept it hidden, whether it was for a good or bad reason he couldn’t tell.

He wanted to know all the answers, the whys, the hows, and the whens, that he didn’t put into consideration of how it would affect Tsukiyama. Yes, thinking about Tsukiyama’s wellbeing was rather stupid, caring about the ghoul who tried to eat you and kill your friends, but he felt like Tsukiyama was trying to make up for past misgivings. He took a small glace at Tsukiyama and saw that he had stopped drinking and was hunched over with his hair covering his face. He sighed and decided to break the silence.

“Hey, Tsukiyama-san…” a small nod was his reply. The guilt he felt inside grew stronger. “What I said to you earlier were lies. I was just trying to rile you up; my intent wasn’t to upset you. Well, it was, but you know what I mean.” The other didn’t react to his words. This would have made Kaneki mad, but he looked back to when he taunted Tsukiyama and internally grimaced. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that I appreciate you taking the time to teach me, and if you don’t want to do it anymore, I understand.” Tsukiyama still didn’t respond and Kaneki felt a twinge of annoyance.

“C’mon, Tsukiyama-san. I’m trying to be sentimental here, you can at least give me some feedback.” When no reaction came, he nudged Tsukiyama on the shoulder with a fist. The bottle of water fell out of Tsukiyama’s hand and he took in a deep breath as if he had just been underwater.

“Finally, I can breathe again!” He exclaimed.

“Tsukiyama-san you alright?” Kaneki asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Tsukiyama’s head snapped to the side to stare at Kaneki and the younger ghoul was slightly startled by the fast action. Tsukiyama’s irises were a shade of bloody crimson with pupils the size of pin pricks. They bored into Kaneki’s eyes with the focus of a hunter’s gun. Though as Kaneki looked closer, he could see small clouds blocking the focus.

“Who are you?” Tsukiyama asked bluntly. Kaneki was taken aback by the question.

“What?” Tsukiyama got closer in Kaneki’s face.

“I’ve never seen your face before.” Without warning Tsukiyama grabbed Kaneki’s face and prodded at it with his thumbs. Kaneki tried to pull away, but that only caused Tsukiyama’s grip to tighten.

“Tsukiyama-san, what are doing?!”

“Oh, so you know him.” A mischievous smile formed on his face. “Good. I’m guessing you’re a new servant to train him. I’m surprised your still alive, you must be special.”

“A servant?! You work for me, is there something wrong with you?” At this Tsukiyama gave a mocking laugh, though he wasn’t sure if he was talking to Tsukiyama right now.

“You must be one of those grunts, his uncle hired. We don’t serve anybody, who are weaker than us and you…” His crimson eyes looked Kaneki up and down. “You don’t look that intimi—” he stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened. “Wait a second.” He brought Kaneki’s face closer to his own and Kaneki flinched as Tsukiyama sniffed him. “Oh, my.” Tsukiyama cooed as a sly smile formed on his lips. “Looks, like somebody been hanging around that filthy pig, but none the less,” he took another whiff and ran his tongue over his upper lip, “you smell absolutely heavenly.  I haven’t eaten in so long, you must be a snack, Matsumae fetched for him. Too bad he’s not here to enjoy you.” Kaneki’s eyes widened when Tsukiyama twisted his head to expose his neck. “Let’s, see how you taste.” His tongue ran up Kaneki’s throat and Kaneki involuntarily shivered. His fist slammed into the side of Tsukiyama’s head and the older ghoul was sent to the floor in a heap. Tsukiyama groaned and rubbed the side of his head, pulling himself up into a sitting position. He brushed the hair out of his eyes and Kaneki could see they returned back to their natural violet, though they looked dazed. Tsukiyama looked up at Kaneki with a confused expression.

“I’m sorry, Kaneki-kun. Did you say something?” he asked innocently. Kaneki could have used this as another chance to lie to him. To say that he had spilled out his dark secrets without regret and he was going to, if it weren’t for the look Tsukiyama gave him. The look of raw confusion and fear. It felt mean, no evil to try and trick Tsukiyama in that way when he had agreed to help. With a small sigh he swallowed his words and spit out different ones.

“I was just asking if you could show me some techniques, I could use against bikakus. So, if Shachi decides to show his face again I’ll be prepared.” Tsukiyama lit up and bounced to his feet.

“Excellent choice, Kaneki-kun. I may not know too much about bikakus, but I know enough.”

“Hey, Tsukiyama-san.”

“Yes, Kaneki-kun.”

“…Thanks for doing this for me.”

“Anything for you, my master.”

* * *

Hide and Takizawa stopped talking when Yoshitoki Washuu walked onto the large stage with a microphone in hand. Hide was surprised that the Bureau Director of the CCG was hosting this meeting and he wasn’t the only one as a small murmur filled the room. He was suddenly more grateful that Takizawa had woken him up. Washuu simply raised his hands and the noise in the room died.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen.” His strong voice sounded through out the room. “I’m glad you all came, and I hope you all are settling in.” he was addressing the side of the room where the unfamiliar people sat. “This meeting has been planned in order to address the new faces at the CCG. Our guests that are her today come from a United States organization called Hyperion. Their organization is similar to ours as their job is to exterminate ghouls and protect the innocent. The reason they are here today is to address the new threat that has come to Tokyo. Please welcome, Colonel Faust of Hyperion.” A low clap started as a woman in the front row stood up. She began walking to the front of the stage and Hide could better see what she looked like.

She had light tanned skin with short brown hair that fell down the right side of her face with a bright blonde streak. She had green eyes that complimented her white pant suit, though most of the torso was covered by a beige coat. On the left breast of the coat was the word “Hyperion”. Her heels clicked on the stairs as she made her way to the front of the meeting room stage. Washuu moved off the stage and the women stood at the center. She cleared her throat and tapped on the mic with a finger before speaking:

“Hello ladies and gentle, my name is Fiona Faust and I am one of the leaders of the Hyperion army.” Her voice was firm yet the way she spoke Hide could tell she wasn’t foreign speaker of Japanese. “We have come here today, due to unfortunate circumstances. A new threat has come to Tokyo and we have come to assist you with it. As you can guess the threat are ghouls which wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the particular ghouls that have invaded your territory. To better explain this threat, I would like to go over a short briefing of U.S.A history involving ghouls.”

She made a small hand gesture and the lights in the room dimmed as the projector came to life and a projection shone behind her. The projection showed a choropleth map of the United States the majority of the west was a vibrant green while the east was spotted with bright red. Hide didn’t know much about American history, but he knew enough to know it wasn’t anything pretty.

“This map shows the two territories of the U.S.A. Human territory and ghoul territory.” Fiona continued. “A large number of ghouls ambushed the thirteen colonies in the seventeen hundreds and swiftly overtook them. This is when the Ghoul Kingdom officially formed. When the Ghoul Kingdom united this caused us to flee to the west and make borders to keep them at bay. Though the Appalachian Mountains helped keep ghouls at bay for a while they were able to expand their territory beyond that. As you can see in present time, the ghoul territory goes from the east coast to what was once known as Kentucky, Lexington. Now this is where things start to get a little chaotic. The rulers of the ghoul kingdom are the self-proclaimed king and queen of ghouls. These ghouls have been around since the first attack on the thirteen colonies.” It took Hide a moment to grasp what she had said. When he did, he shouted out what everyone was thinking in the room and what their expressions portrayed.

“Holy crap, they’re older than my grandfather and he died at one hundred and two!” Takizawa’s eyes widened, and he immediately clapped his hands over Hide’s mouth.

“Hide, shut it!” he hissed with a glare in his eyes, but it was too late. All eyes were on them and Takizawa gave a nervous smile. “Excuse him, he can be a bit impulsive at times. He’ll be silent from now on, right?” Hide nodded his head, Takizawa’s hands moving with the shake of his head. The older one released the youngers face and everyone’s attention turned back to Fiona. She cleared her throat and continued to speak.

“These ghouls have always been a mystery to us and have been undefeatable. That wasn’t until our head doctor made a breakthrough in his research. Please welcome, Dr. Wilson and his assistant.” A low clap sounded as two more people, a man and a woman, stood up from the first row of new comers. When they began to walk to the front Hide was able to get a better visual of them.

The man looked no older than thirty-five and he had sandy blonde hair that was neatly combed back. He wore a neat black suit, his light skin contrasting against the dark fabric. An ID card on his breast no doubt containing his PHDs. He had dark brown eyes and had a pair of square glasses with black rims. The women had pale skin and was dressed in a navy-blue blazer with a matching pencil skirt. Black tights covered her legs and black flats were on her feet. What was most striking about her was her vibrant blue hair that was cut short in the back and grew long in the front. Her eyes were a mystic steel blue and she had an alluring appearance.

When they made it to the front Fiona made her way down to make room for the two. The man straightened his red tie and adjusted his glasses before speaking in a deep smooth tone:

“Good morning investigators, my name is Craig Wilson and I am the head doctor at Hyperion. I have a PHD in Ghoul Biology as well as Ghoul History and recently I have been studying the mystery of what kind of ghouls the king and queen are.” He made a gesture with his hand and the projector changed to show two blank body models show the front and back. Blue swirls and marking covered the left side of the body. “Now the king and queen are biologically ghouls. They have to eat human meat, have kakugans as well as kagunes. Though where they differ from normal ghouls are their Rc cells. Their Rc cells are overcharged with energy and do not always reflect the color red. Because their cells are filled with so much energy their cells do not die at the normal rate of a ghouls, therefore they are able to live longer as well as retain their youthful appearance.

“Though it is unsure how long their natural lifespan is. Along with an elongated lifespan the queen and king in particular seem to have all of the Rc types in them though the reason for this is yet to be known. Because their Rc cells are so potent they actually show through the skin on half of their body in a similar fashion to tattoos. Because these ghouls differ so much from normal ghouls, we have classified them as a different type of ghoul called Sirens.” He paused and looked around at the confused and doubtful expressions.

“I know this can a little difficult to wrap your head around, we have a demonstration for you.” He gestured towards the woman beside him and she gave a nod. She put herself so that she was in front of the doctor and was visible for everyone to see. To everyone’s surprise she began unbuttoning her blazer and took it off her body. Underneath she wore a sleeveless white shirt that showed off her arms. Everyone on the right side stared agape at what covered her right arm. Electric blue tattoos flowed down her arm like a river and matched the same vibrant blue as her hair. She smiled and said:

“Hello fellow investigators, my name is Maya Procella.” Her voice sounded sterner than perceived though it held a feminine elegance to it.

Needless to say, the CCG members went into an uproar with some members jumping out of their seats and gripping their quinques if they had them or actually backing away. Before Hide had any time to react, Takizawa had shot up from his seat and grabbed his quinque from underneath the table. Hide wasn’t too surprised that Takizawa had his quinque with him, being the dedicated investigator, he was. What did startle him slightly was when Takizawa put his arm over his chest in a protective manor. As Hide looked around he could see that the Hyperion members didn’t seem phased and the CCG members in the front row also showed no reaction. Though he wasn’t surprised Arima didn’t even flinched, he looked rather bored actually.

“Please everybody, stay calm.” Washuu now stood at the front his powerful voice echoing through the large meeting room. “I have already been informed of a ghoul being in the facility and I have approved of it. There is no reason for anybody to take action. Now please put away your quinques and sit back down.” Nobody moved for a moment. Washuu’s brows furrowed. “That’s an order!” Though there was hesitation in their movements, the investigators began to sit back down at their superior’s command. Hide could see the conflict pass through Takizawa’s brown eyes before finally setting his quinque down.

“Ah, you care about me.” Hide cooed as he patted Takizawa’s hand that was pressed against his chest. Takizawa looked down surprised as if he had not realized what he had done. He quickly retracted his hand from Hide’s chest and plopped back down in his seat. He crossed his arms over his chest, his face flushed red.

“Just pay attention.” He muttered under his breath.

“Whatever you say, Takizawa-san.” Hide said smirking.

“Thank you, everyone. Now please retain your attention back to Doctor Wilson.” Washuu said before going back to his seat. Wilson cleared his throat before continuing his interrupted speech.

“Allow me, to introduce Maya Procella. A member of Hyperion and an excellent fighter against the ghouls. Please let her explain herself.” He gave her a nod. Maya straightened herself before starting her bit speech.

“Hey, everybody as you already know my name’s Maya, I’m thirty-one years-old, and I’m going to ignore the fact that you all just tried to kill me and get off to a fresh start. I am indeed a ghoul, a siren to be exact. And too answer the most asked question off the bat, yes, I do eat. But what I eat is the generously donated blood of my fellow members and since I don’t need to eat a lot since I’m a siren, they only have to drain blood once every two months. So, don’t worry I’m not going to be biting anybody.

“Now onto the second most asked question, why the hell would a ghoul fight with the humans _willingly_? Well, let me tell you a bit about myself. I was born in a ghoul town called Athenas and worked with the Order of the Impending Storm. A group of ghouls that ran the community. I was happy there, living with ghouls that cared and loved me and I was able to help others as well with my strength. What I didn’t know is that it was a crime in the ghoul kingdom to harbor a siren and I was at the age of eleven when the king sent his elite force to deliver “justice”. The demoness ghoul, Queen Rose came with her forces and wiped out everyone in Athenas and took me to, Pandora, where the king and queen stayed.

“They didn’t kill me though as I thought they would. Instead the siren princess known as Firehawk, trained me to be a in her words a “warrior”, but now I see the only thing she taught me was how to kill and destroy lives. It took me fifteen years for me to realize this and once I did, I turned my back on them and vowed to bring an end to all the suffering they are causing. Hyperion gladly took me in and couldn’t be in a batter place.

“Which is why I am here before you now. I hope we will be able to work together in peace, in the future. Thank you.” Only half of the room clapped as Maya and Dr. Wilson made their way back to their seats. The projector turned off and the normal lighting in the room returned, showing that Washuu had moved back to the center of the stage.

“Thank you, Hyperion for your introduction. I hope all of you get along nicely since we are going to be working with each other for a while. There will be some changes to accompany Hyperion into the CCG, but for the time being, get to know each other well. Socialize and converse with each other, we shall regroup at 12:30 for more announcements. You are dismissed.” With those words the meeting room burst into an uproar of noise as Hyperion mixed with the CCG.

* * *

 “The rinkaku.

“This marvelous kagune has the appearance reminiscent of scaled tentacles and is released at the back around the waist. A rinkaku wielder has increased regenerative abilities, some can even survive the most brutal of injuries. Its peculiar appearance and structure yield a superior striking power and they excel in brute strength. Skilled rinkaku users are able to manipulate the shape of their kagune, morphing it from its usual tentacle form into swords or claws.

“Even though the bikaku is its better with its overwhelming force, the rinkaku kagune is said to be the most powerful Rc type out of all the others when wielded by the right ghoul. They are considered superior over all Rc types, but the one they trump over, is our koukaku. The rinkaku strikes hard and fast compared to the hefty and sluggish koukaku. Though just because they are considered our superior doesn’t mean they are unbeatable.” Slade’s voice gained a tinge of anger as his booming voice sounded through the training room.

“So, why the hell is it taking you so, long for you to defeat your opponent, Shuu?!”

Shuu could barely acknowledge his uncle as he fought desperately to keep the attacking rinkaku away and save his life. His uncle was right. The rinkaku ghoul attacking him used greater force and speed than he did, and it clearly showed. The three tentacles were a stunning red and slender in shape. They cut and swirled through the air striking at Shuu with sharp ends that would tear the smaller ghoul’s body a part within seconds.

Shuu swung his koukaku sword around franticly, cutting away the ends of the deadly rinkaku before they sank to deep into his flesh and blocking attacks that sent him reeling. He painted heavily and his koukaku would have shattered if it weren’t for his intense focus and adrenaline coursing through his body, yelling at him to survive. What made things worse was the smug grin his opponent had as he sent his tentacles hurdling at the koukaku ghoul. Shuu could see his uncle’s unapproving glare in between the clashing kagunes.

“Shuu you need to regain control. I taught you how to fight rinkakus, you should know what to do. Now concentrate. If you don’t end your opponent within the next minute, you will only be allowed to eat scraps for two weeks.”

A wave of dread washed over Shuu and a new determination rose within him. Though, before he could properly use his emotions to power his body, the rinkaku ghoul through all of his tentacles at Shuu at once and the immense force caused the koukaku sword to shatter like glass. The rinkaku ghoul laughed as Shuu landed hard on his back. The bigger ghoul strode up to Shuu as he pulled himself from off the ground. He looked down at the younger ghoul and scoffed.

“I can’t believe all I need to do to get free meals for three months is simply kill a squirt like you.” The rinkaku ghoul mused. “Thanks for the free meals to come kid.” The tentacles posed to strike, though they would never get the chance. As Shuu looked past the offending ghoul and at his uncle who, after a moment of thought, nodded it was already over the overpowering ghoul.

Shuu’s body was tired from all the exertion, but it only took a thought and pulse for the black-colored rinkaku kagune to birth from his back. The sensation foreign, having used his koukaku for so long. He had yet to grow used to sting that shot up his spine as the rinkaku took shape. It had been a short time for him to figure out the form his new found kagune would take. He had chosen the thorn laced stem of a beautiful rose to be his model, and the rinkaku was as alluring as it was fatal. Though it was two against three, his opponent’s rinkaku kagune, looked like brittle sticks compared to his own daunting rinkaku kagune.

The enemy ghoul could only stare in shock as the black-colored rinkaku surged fowards like a harrowing shadow. They tore apart the pathetic red kagune before reaching its host and sending him flying across the training room. He landed in a heap on the floor, a large hole in the center of his chest. His fading crimson eyes were wide and filled with panic as he sputtered up blood. He rolled weakly onto his stomach and looked to the side where Slade stood watching the fight unfold with his royal purple eyes. The dying ghoul glared and pointed an accusing finger at him.

“You… You lied to me, you pr—” his sentence was caught up as he coughed up a gout of blood. He soon continued though the fight in his eyes were slowing fading away. “You told me I had to kill a kid koukaku. Not whatever the hell that monster is!” he gestured towards Shuu whose rinkaku stood menacingly beside him. Slade approached the ghoul with quick steps, a small smirk on his lips.

“I didn’t lie to you. I told you that you would have to kill a ghoul that had a koukaku, I just didn’t inform you of the ghoul’s special trait.” He stopped in front of the ghoul and looked down at him a more serious glint in his eyes. “Also, I would watch your mouth, that ghoul you call “monster” is my sister’s son. Though it may seem like it, he is not a monster, but simply has a chimera kagune.” A devious smile spread on his face and he leaned closer to the down ghoul. “A very special chimera kagune.”

The ghoul opened his mouth to spit out an insult. And he would have had too if it weren’t for the rinkaku shooting through the back of his head. Turing his brain into mush and causing his body to collapse lifelessly to the floor. Shuu pulled his tentacle from out of the corpse’s head and let the deadly appendages retreat back inside himself in a burst of black mist. He stared up at his uncle, waiting for a sign of approval. To his delight his uncle came over to him with a happy look on his face.

“Well, done Shuu, your skill with your rinkaku has improved. I must say, I’m thrilled your finally excepting who you are. Soon enough you’ll be able to finally show those mongrel’s where their place is. Under our feet.” Shuu felt a small swell of accomplishment in his chest. A feeling he didn’t feel often with his uncle. That feeling was soon crushed when his uncle’s happy expression turned into anger.

“Though you finished off your opponent in a minute and ten seconds which is not what I asked for. You know your punishment, you are to follow through with it. Understand?” The unfairness of the situation caused all reason to flood his mind and spoke out against his uncle.

“But, that’s not—” He was cut off when his uncle’s fist crashed into his face sending him to the ground. The pain spread across his cheek and he already felt his mouth feeling with the salty taste of blood. He looked up at his uncle, forcing himself not to let the tears gathered at the corner of his eyes fall.

“Three weeks eating scraps for you, no exceptions. When I tell you to do something, you never question me. Now let’s try that again. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir.” Shuu said as the tears trapped in his eyes finally fell to cascade down his cheeks.


End file.
